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The life story told by a mother to her long-lost daughter is set against the backdrop of the community of the small village of Kuron in South Tyrol, torn between Italian fascism and German Nazism.

Seventeen-year-old Trina wanted a different life, to become a teacher, but in 1923 Mussolini's regime abolished the use of German as the language of instruction in the Italian-annexed territory of Austria. In defiance of the forced Italianisation programme, Trina became a teacher in an underground network of schools, risking punishment. After marrying Erich, an orphaned young man and her father's assistant, Trina finds herself in a situation of uncertainty again when Nazi Germany invites the community to leave Italy in 1939 and join the Reich. The community is split, and people are increasingly divided. Those who choose to stay, like Trina and her family, are perceived as traitors and spies; they can no longer leave their homes without being subjected to violence. One day, Trina discovers that her daughter has disappeared...

An inspiring and unlikely story.

Inspired by the extraordinary sight of the bell tower rising from Lake Resia, all that remains of the village of Curon, Marco Balzano has written a novel that beautifully intertwines the great moments of history with the lives of ordinary people. The novel has won more than 10 literary awards and has been translated into 15 countries.