Agata nel vento, the new novel by Francesca Maccani

AGI – A novel that looks into the past to explain the neuroses of the present, an idea that arose during a trip to an island that is now a popular tourist destination, but until a century ago was a place of concern to people Luck and fled in search of her Women broke their backs In the morning on the fishing boats and in the evening in the fields so as not to go hungry.

Not another story of female emancipation – even if the protagonists are predominantly women – nor a simple hymn to resilience, but a way to restore historical truth to a moment and a place where being “female” meant first and foremost Be aware of your role.

“The inspiration came from a trip to Lipari, during which I discovered the history of the fisherwomen and the testimonies collected by the anthropologist Macrina Marilena Maffei,” says Francesca Maccani, author of “Agata del vento” (Rizzoli, 304 pages, 17 euros) “ and from then on a world opened up to me in which, against the background of events that actually happened, characters move that are just as real but full of suggestions, such as healers and fortune tellers, the so-called “Majars”, which some call “majare”. Be like witches, but still strong in a role that was recognized by society itself“.

Women who “paradoxically were extremely free compared to us women today,” which, it must be said, is necessary to escape literary clichés. “I am aware that the women she is exposed to are suffering a lot very strong social and media pressure: They must be Wonder Women, but without complaining; They have to be ironic and cool and this amount of social expectations causes them all to burn out a little. There is a very current suffering that comes from the loss of the vision that women once had of themselves, which was focused solely on the continuation of their gifts.”

When reading “Agata del vento” you almost think that the women of the past could be a role model for the women of the present. “For the fact that they could afford the luxury of being who they were while enjoying respect that transcended aesthetic and social judgment, yes: they could be.” Model of strength and self-determination what we cannot carry forward today,” says Maccani, “We lack respect for the personalities responsible for a fundamental social function – doctors and teachers – and the ability to expand the spectrum of respect for social functions without it to limit it to gender.” .

Agata is not a character in the sense of the “women of Acquasanta”, the workers at the Palermo tobacco factory who were the protagonists of the author’s previous successful novel. “It’s a different way of telling a cross-section of women,” says Maccani, “this one was more social and choral.” looks at another sensory sphere compared to the male, associated with magic, caring, feeling and seeing things that others do not see or hear. Certain sensibilities that are part of a heritage that we lose because we move away from it and focus too much on the judgment of others.”