A review of Nicoletta Verna’s I Giorni di Vetro
Below is a small review of this year’s EUPL winning novel, written by Lorenzo Dall’Omo, full-time EIBF Policy Assistant and part-time Italian reader.
Violence, the kind that rips a country’s flesh open, seems like an impossibly distant reality when perched on a beach in the Sicilian coast in 2025. The only sounds I can hear are the steady tide gently meeting the sandbank, people swimming leisurely in the sea, and the occasional child shrieking in glee. I am, however, reminded of the violence that I now deem foreign raging across my entire country not even a century ago, while clutching Nicoletta Verna’s EUPL winning novel I Giorni di Vetro.
I Giorni di Vetro follow the story of Redenta and Iris, growing up across the 30s and 40s, right in the throes of the rise of Fascism and the Second World War. Redenta, born in a working-class family in Castrocaro, a small town in the centre-north of the Italian peninsula, finds herself entwined in the bitter broil between her everyday life and the violence thrust upon her by fascist rule. The other voice of the novel, Iris, hails from remote Tavolicci nestled in the mountains of Romagna, seemingly untouched by exterior influences and frozen in time. Her life drastically changes when she moves to the city and becomes deeply embedded in the fabric of anti-fascist resistance.
With a pen as delicate as it is incisive, Verna’s gripping novel spans the darkest days of Italian history: the rise of fascism and the devastating effects, along with the war, it brought upon ordinary citizens. Poignantly exploring themes of loss, violence, resistance, and hope, the novel seamlessly blends the history of its characters with the greater History they are enveloped by.
Verna is not shy to approach themes head-on and question views which we often take for granted. Such example can be seen from when the legendary anti-fascist paramilitary leader (a Partigiano) Diaz states: ‘’sometimes, the Good is violence. And you know it. Everyone knows it’’. While a controversial statement, as we have quickly grown accustomed to viewing violence as the ultimate enemy regardless of where it comes from, violence (oftentimes also towards innocent civilians) played a central role in Italian resistance, and this is often forgotten. While I am a convinced pacifist and am very sceptical toward any war mongering and encouragement, part of Verna’s talent is her ability to extract you from the present and subsequently place you in a completely different historical context altogether, facing you with uncomfortable realities, forcing you to reflect upon thinks often taken for granted. Without counterviolence and the crucial work of the resistance, would fascism had met its end? Can violence be excused if in the form of armed resistance, even at the expense of innocent civilians? Must we always paint our opinions in broad, decisive strokes—or is it acceptable, even necessary, to dwell in the grey? Perhaps I am too much a product of my time, as we all are, which further proves that questions like these should be treated as necessary and not problematic.
Despite the omnipresent bloodshed, behind the smoke and the bullets, hope is laced in every page. Indeed, Verna masterfully illustrates how sheer conviction in ideals can fuel hope and, more tangibly, action. This is seen through the anti-fascist resistance and their courage in facing death and injustice head on, recognising that dejection and acceptance would ultimately lead to the demise not only of the entire nation, but of the human spirit. Redenta spells this out for us upon realising this, ‘’I understand that my personal existence is over: now I live for something that is not just mine but everyone’s, and it’s in this universal belonging that it stops being mine’’.
In some ways, Verna’s novel proved to be a soothing balm for my constant frustration at the world’s disregard to violence around the world. I was reminded that resistance is valuable even without institutional validation, that a community bound together by unshakeable values is as strong as ever a foundation for change, and that, if there is one thing even more insidious and dangerous than violence, it is indifference.
‘”It will not pass by a second time, the future. So you have to be ready to embrace it once it presents itself.’’
Reading List: Italy, Resistance, and War
Hi! Thank you for reading this review. If you are interested in the themes discussed about above, then consider also reading the following novels.
- Una Questione Privata – Beppe Fenoglio
- La Storia – Elsa Morante
- Le Piccole Virtù – Natalia Ginzburg
- La Strada che va in Città – Natalia Ginzburg