Memories Of Our Days – Chiara Cesetti

The story of the Barrieri family, their four children and all the characters revolving around their lives, for better or for worse, go from the early years of 1900s to the post-second World War period. The first World War, the hard work at the land, the epidemics, the Fascist regime, fleeing abroad in exile, a society that changes violently or harshly at times, provide a frame for a series of events that show the reader an essential part of our history where the main characters will come out somehow changed. There are men who rebel with courage and detemination sided by strong women who show one’s best in hard times. It is il sapore dei giorni which does not leave anything the way it was. . Choral novel which is about the sequence of events happening in a family over three genetations, from the early 1900s to the post-second World War. The first part of the book deals with the marriage of Giulia and Giovanni Barrieri. They have four children who have quite different personalities. Despite the historical events which affect them (the first World War, the Spanish flu epidemic, the onset of the Fascist regisme), they grow up in a calm environment, under the watchful and concerned eye of a strong and loving mother, while the Fascist regime slowly permeates the daily life. The two European wars and Fascism frame the story of the Barrieri family and those around them, good or bad, from dr Marinucci to Lucio, a day laborer working for the family. People who have something to do with the Barrieri family will become a vital element in the events that concern them in a very difficult time like during the first half of the XXth century. A chapter in our history which is not well known, especially considering the geographical area where the protagonists carry on with their lives: Tuscia.