La festa dei morti: the novel about 2 November in Catania, a closed pastry shop and a family secret
On 2 November, in Catania, the dead come back to bring gifts. "La festa dei morti" ("The Feast of the Dead") is Franky Bonanno's new novel: a closed pastry shop, a broken mold and a family secret a century long.
A tradition that is a must in Catania
On the night between 1 and 2 November, Sicilian tradition says the dead bring presents to children. Pastry shops and tables fill with frutta martorana, marzipan shaped like prickly pears, figs, lemons and oranges, and with pupi di zucchero, poured-sugar figures of paladins and dancers. It is a feast of sweetness and memory, and every Sicilian family lives it in its own way.
What the novel is about
Nino returns to Catania to sell the family pastry shop, opened in via Plebiscito in 1911 and long closed. Among the things left behind he finds a broken plaster mold, a drawing from 1918 and a recipe notebook that must not be shared with anyone.
From there the novel goes back through three generations, from the early 1900s to today, between Catania and Milan, and asks a simple question: sign the sale and leave, or find out who his family really was?
A family saga with a secret
- Three generations and two cities, Catania and Milan, from 1911 to today.
- A pastry shop that keeps more than it seems.
- A secret that waited a century to come to light.
- The Bellofiore family is invented, but the book is dedicated to two real people from Catania.
Who it is for
- Readers of family sagas and novels set in Sicily.
- Anyone looking for a book for 2 November, about memory and family.
- Anyone born in Catania, or tied to it, who will recognise the flavours and the streets.
Where to find it
La festa dei morti is available on Amazon. Here is the book's full page, with the purchase link: La festa dei morti. The novel is written in Italian.