Epic novel set mainly in the South Tyrol or Alto Adige

24th August 2016

Eva Sleeps by Francesca Melandri (translated by Katherine Gregor) – epic novel set mainly in the South Tyrol or Alto Adige.

I have been on a couple of summer walking holidays in Alto Adige / The South Tyrol. I have driven over the Brenner pass, admired the amazing scenery and I have enjoyed the brilliant food. I have found it a little quaint that part of Italy should speak German – even if so close to the Austrian border, but I have (mea culpa) never looked at the recent history of the area until I picked up Eva Sleeps. The joys of TripFiction!

The South Tyrol was ceded to Italy (and became Alto Adige) as part of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, as the First World War ended and the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed. Under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, the German speaking population was subject to considerable harassment and all references to the old Tyrol were banned. In 1938 Hitler and Mussolini decreed that the German speaking population would either be transferred to Germany proper or dispersed throughout Italy. Only the outbreak of the Second World War stopped this actually being put into effect. Once Italy surrendered, Germany annexed the area and made it part of the Third Reich. Then, after the war, in 1946 Italy and Austria signed an agreement granting the region considerable autonomy within Italy – and again permitting the speaking and learning of the German language. However the implementation ran into considerable difficulties, and the issue was taken to the UN amid civic unrest and considerable violence in the 50s and 60s. Only in 1971 did the Italian and Austrian governments agree to a much broader based autonomy with a clause stating that Italy would not interfere in South Tyrol’s internal affairs. Then, perhaps a little oddly, the Schengen Agreement of 1985 gave both the Austrian government and the South Tyroleans what they actually wanted – the ability to cross the border with no form of control! The Tyrol was again one – even if part of it remained in Italy.

But I digress from my review of Eva Sleeps…

Eva’s mother, Gerda, was born to a poor family in the South Tyrol in the 50s. As a teenager, she was sent to work as a kitchen assistant in an hotel. She became pregnant (nothing to do with her employment, but everything to do with the son of a well-to-do villager). She was thrown out of her family home, and gave birth in a convent. That is where Eva came into the world. The hotel chef, who had taken her under his wing, took her back and – to the amazement of some – trained her up to become assistant chef. Apart from two short periods a year (between the summer and winter seasons), Eva lived with relatives and waited for her mother to return. Meanwhile Gerda’s brother, Peter, became a saboteur / freedom fighter (depending on your point of view) – and eventually blew himself up in an accident. The village and the family were persecuted by the fascist Italian army – times were hard. Several died. Gerda eventually fell in love with Vito, a carabiniere stationed locally, but from the South of Italy – he was the love of her life. His mother, though, (to whom he was very close) could not tolerate the thought of his marrying an unmarried mother, and he and Gerda had to split up.

Then, years later on his deathbed, Vito contacts Eva and asks him to visit him. She with fond memories of her childhood and of her mother and Vito being together, sets off on a train journey from the North to the South of Italy to see him for the last time. The book describes, in pretty much alternate chapters, the life Gerda and Eva had in the South Tyrol – with all its hardship, civic unrest, and violence – and Eva’s train journey to the South. It is well written / well translated, and it is observant and thoughtful. A real and epic family saga over the years. In TripFiction terms, Italy comes through loud and clear.

A book I would recommend – not just for the story line and the writing, but because it also sheds a fascinating light on a little known struggle. I feel better informed about modern European history having read Eva Sleeps.

Tony for the TripFiction team

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