Fontamara: A Novel (Vol. 1 of the Abruzzo Trilogy)

Fontamara, the first novel in Ignazio Silone's acclaimed Abruzzo Trilogy, depicts Abruzzo's destitute, struggling peasants (cafoni) and their valiant but doomed struggle to fascism's merciless advance. Fontamara soars to the heights of fable, with an apparently routine conflict over land and water rights inspiring a rebellion against the unfairness and oppression of the fascist social system and a sacrifice quest for a community's salvation.

A graphic portrayal of instability and despair during Mussolini's reign, powerful in its simplicity and unforgettable for its tragedy, Fontamara is an account of fascism to “be read to its merciless end” (Graham Greene).