A Very Cold Winter
Fausta Cialente’s multifaceted historical novel A Very Cold Winter explores the individual and collective dynamics of an extended family as they adjust to life in postwar Italy.
Though the war ended, Milan is still shadowed by malaise. Essential supplies are limited, and damage from Allied bombings forces people into unsafe and crowded housing. Camilla and her three children share an attic apartment with other family members and acquaintances; the toilets are outdoors, and privacy is rare. Still, Camilla tries to create a welcoming home and remain optimistic, even though her husband abandoned her. Her beautiful eldest daughter, Alba, broods about the family’s living situation and strained finances.
Through alternating narrations, the apartment’s various inhabitants express their inner thoughts, desires, and uncertainties. Camilla is nurturing yet troubled; her spirited son, Guido, loves movies and the theater. Camilla’s nephew seeks joy and universality in his work as a musician, and his deceased brother’s girlfriend recently gave birth to an “illegitimate” but beloved baby. Milan itself is compelling as a former hub of culture and industry now fragmented and scarred by explosions and debris.
Beyond the city’s pervasive fog, a season of bitter cold arrives. Enzo, an expatriate from the Middle East, rents an adjoining room and becomes close to Camilla’s family. Through entrancing recollections of his homeland, he contrasts scents of “sesame and incense” and “fleeting gold” sunsets with Milan’s frozen backdrop. The book sustains intricate emotional tension as the apartment residents endure their constrained quarters, yearning for spring and better times. Alba’s dissatisfaction persists, however, and her desires for “luxury and comfort” lead to fateful choices.
Rich with sensual observations and human insights, the novel A Very Cold Winter is about the familial and social aftereffects of war.
Reviewed by
Meg Nola
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