ARONA – 09-09-2022 – Stefania Auci arrives in Arona, to present the highly anticipated second and last volume of the Florio saga: “The winter of the Lions”, published by Editrice Nord in 2021. The writer talked with Dacia Maraini on the stage in Piazza San Graziano on Thursday 8 September, on the occasion of the city festival.
After “I Leoni di Sicilia”, the Florio family return to the pages of the author with wealth and determination, to tell an entire era, that of Liberty, of the joy of living and elegance, the era that the world believed to have in hand.
The title, however, already suggests the end of the story: in “The winter of the Lions”, the economic empire built by the Florio family, a model for all of Europe, comes to an end.
The Florio family became a symbol of Sicily and Stefania Auci, from Trapani but resident in Palermo, knows it well, she has studied them thoroughly and talks about them as she talks about her native land.
«The most complex thing» says the writer «was to mix the family side, the historical side and the economic side, especially in this second volume». The meeting born by chance between Auci and the Florio led her to a continuous research to get to the drafting of pages full of details, both of the history of the protagonists, both of the Italian one, but also, at least in part, of her .
From the dialogue with the director of the Teatro sull’Acqua, Dacia Maraini, various reflections on female writing and writing also arose.
“There are moments in which each of us reads and, in some way, understands his own path,” says Stefania Auci, then turning to Dacia Maraini. «For me you have been a point of reference. You told our land in a very strong way ».
Nicole Pastore
