On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance to not forget the massacres of the foibe and the Istrian exodus, it arrives in bookstores “Hot chocolate for two” by the Neapolitan author Nunzia Gionfriddo, published by Phoenix Publishing

On the occasion of Remembrance Day, celebrated every year on February 10th, so as not to forget the massacres of the foibe and the Istrian exodus, arrives in bookstores in the new updated guise “Hot Chocolate for Two” by the Neapolitan author Nunzia Gionfriddo, published by Phoenix Publishing and winner of the Premio Milano International. A complex novel, vaguely romantic, even if the title is misleading. The title in fact refers to a love story, in reality what vibrates in the 214 pages of the book is not the love that the reader expects. At the center of the narration, stories of war, tenderness, fear, expectations.

With the aim of deepening her research on the dramatic events that took place in the former Yugoslavia, Florinda asks for help from a journalist, Giovanni. Soon, the woman clashes with the deep and never overcome pain of the man who lost his wife in those terrible events. An affectionate relationship is born made of exchanges of ideas, memories, small sharing, common rituals such as a hot chocolate at the bar, a walk in the neighborhood, a trip to the sea.

The tragic events of the post-war period that affected Istria, Dalmatia, Fiume, Trieste, the attempted Serbian invasion of Bosnia, the atrocious suffering and decimation suffered by the populations, in the indifference of the great European nations, burst into their daily lives.

The story of Giovanni, his family and his missing wife, a mysterious phone call to a cell phone (“Hello, love…”) are the themes of this two-voiced tale that plays between love and death, between lightheartedness and torment, and emerge like splashes of waves in a stormy sea, between the lines of an e-mail or in front of two cups of hot chocolate.

“This novel,” explains the author, “is born from various solicitations over the course of at least two years. The first emerged during the presentation of my novel “Gli angeli del rione Sanità”. During the heated discussion that arose over the question of whether in classrooms the history textbook or the historical novel had more of an impact on students, a lady intervened, stating that topics such as, for example, the drama of the foibe and the exodus of Italians from Pola, Istria and Dalmatia, not to mention the Nazi and fascist or Titoist concentration camps, were almost completely ignored by students and teachers”.

The second prompt, says Nunzia Gionfriddo, was sent over the radio waves by Edoardo Camurri who was reading Alessandro Baricco's provocation in a newspaper: "Could you write a story that takes as its starting point the phone call: «Hello, love...».

A few words on the last, necessary chapter that updates the previous edition. “I continued to let my protagonists speak, to report in this volume the historical account of the events that concern the Second Post-War period in the eastern part of our Italy and the devastating siege of Sarajevo by Milosevic’s Serbs,” continues the author. “As a historian, I drew on various sources, but as a writer, I used my beloved characters to add what History must never show, that is, indignation, horror, judgment, punishment…”.

Photographic equipment by Alma Carrano.

Title: Hot Chocolate for Two

Author: Nunzia Gionfriddo

Necklace: Talos

Pages: 214

Format: 148 × 210

Price: € 16,90

EAN: 978-88-944808-8-7

Release: January 2022

Audience: for everyone

Fourth place at the Giovane Holden Award, 2018

Second place at Premio Milano International, 2018

Special Mention of Merit Ass. Pelasgo, 2020

THE AUTHOR

Nunzia Gionfriddo was born in Naples and graduated in Literature and Philosophy at the Federico II University. She taught in secondary schools. She collaborated with Sapienza University in Rome. In recent years she has devoted herself to writing novels, of which Chiocciole vagabonde was the first. This was followed, among essays and critical reviews, by Raccontami la mia storia and Gli angeli del rione Sanità, all works awarded by national and international associations. She has been interested in the relationships between Science, History and Literature, participating in the cultural debate with some essays such as L'incanto della camera oscura in Giacomo Leopardi, published by the literary magazine “RISL” (International Review of Leopardian Studies), directed by Emilio Speciale and L'Ultrafilosofia si fa poesia, in “Leopardi e il pensiero scientifico”, edited by Giorgio Stabile.

THE PUBLISHING HOUSE

Phoenix Publishing is the publishing arm of Phoenix Film Production. It publishes comics, non-fiction, and fiction. The goal is to disseminate high-quality content by selecting both emerging and established writers, with a focus on new, original, and cinematic-flavored works.

Phoenix Publishing – www.phoenixproduzioni.com

E. info.phoenixfp@gmail.com

From the same series:

Philip Kwok – The Chinese in Italy during Fascism, Phoenix Publishing – EAN 9788894389623

Mary Lombard – A field without walls, Phoenix Publishing – EAN 9788894480870

Source: The Milan Gazette – 31/01/2022