Skip to content

'Weeping people desperately sought family photos'. Franco Faggiani wrote a novel about the earthquakes in Italy

Houses, monuments, shops and streets were wiped off the map. Nearly three hundred people died under the rubble. Franco Faggiani (73) wrote a gripping book about the earthquake that hit central Italy five years ago: Sometimes I would like to be the wind.

Good luck

Whenever possible, Franco Faggiani heads into the northern Italian mountains.

Italian writer Franco Faggiani

Even now, he is in the Piedmont Alps, at 1,700 metres, in the sun and snow. 'Especially in winter, I like being here. Tomorrow I have to go to Liguria for a lecture on my new novel, 250 kilometres south, then I will drive back,' he says.

After a long career in journalism, he made his debut as a novelist in 2018 at 70 with Between two worlds. He broke through in the Netherlands a year later when the book panel of The World Turned Door his novel The year Shizo Kanakuri disappeared proclaimed Book of the Month.

Success has not dramatically changed his life, says Faggiani. 'As a writer, you are often wrongly put on a pedestal. After a presentation, a lady came up to me and exclaimed in surprise: gosh, you are actually a very ordinary person!'

 Your new novel is about the earthquake of 24 August 2016, which razed numerous villages and hamlets in central Italy. Did you know the area from before?

'Yes, I knew the affected places well, acquaintances of mine lived there, so my thoughts immediately went to them. The historical centre of Amatrice, where my novel is mainly set, was wiped out. The village itself had 2,200 inhabitants, and then it also has 69 sub-villages scattered in the mountains. The weekend after the earthquake, the big annual festival in honour of the pasta all'amatriciana take place, attracting thousands of visitors every year. I feared there would be huge numbers of people under the rubble. As no communication was possible, I went to the hit areas as soon as I could. What I found was terrible. The houses, towers, buildings, monuments, shops and streets had been swept away, there was only sand, earth, stones and dust.'

Amatrice after the earthquakes. ©Marc Brester/A Quattro Mani

In Amatrice, 230 were killed: a miracle, considering the thousands of visitors. 

'Indeed a miracle, especially since the quake was at 3.30 a.m. AND because the walls collapsed inwards, which is much more dangerous than if they fall outwards. The first emergency services were there within an hour, an hour and a half - they had to come from Rieti, some 60 kilometres away. By the end of the first day, there were almost more emergency workers than residents. In such a situation, everything revolves around speed. 238 people were eventually pulled out from under the rubble.'

Arquata del Tronto, one of the badly affected villages. ©Marc Brester/A Quattro Mani

What hit you the most?

'The stories of firefighters about homeowners who wanted to save photographs above all: black-and-white photos of grandparents, weddings, family parties in the countryside. They wanted to save their memories. Many of those stories ended up in the book in modified form.

Recently I was at café Meletti in Ascoli Piceno, where the opening scene of my novel takes place. There I met two people who lost everything in the earthquake. One of them was a grandmother of 45 who had lost her one-and-a-half-year-old grandson. She told me that at first she found it difficult to read my book, but eventually she had taken comfort from it.'

Reconstruction

What is it like in Amatrice now?

'There are supermarkets, pharmacies and other public centres again but some 70 per cent of the population still cannot return home and are still living in the prefabricated emergency shelters of five years ago. Rebuilding their homes is a problem. Not only because of the gigantic bureaucracy, but also because everything has to be earthquake-proof. There are also all sorts of large buildings that still need to be demolished, but where should all that waste go? Nobody wants it and the costs to dispose of and process it are huge. For construction companies, building a flat block in the city is much more lucrative than rebuilding a mountain village.'

Reconstruction of the affected area is slow and laborious. ©Marc Brester/A Quattro Mani

 The economic damage is huge, but what are the social consequences?

'Many people, especially young people, have moved away and that worries me. If reconstruction is not fast enough, they will become deserted ghost villages. That's why I wanted my novel to bring this situation back into focus five years on. Fortunately, the reconstruction of Amatrice has started well since seven months; 400 workers have been assigned to collect special stones, tiles and decorations with which to reconstruct the facades of the old buildings and monuments. They are also making the hamlets around them habitable again. In a village where nothing happened until six months ago, there are now 11 hoisting cranes. It is important to reconstruct the social fabric, otherwise people lose hope. And without hope, there is no future.'

Good to know Good to know

Sometimes I would like to be the wind, translated by Saskia Peterzon-Kotte, Signatuur publishing house, €20.99.

Read also this report on the disaster area

Appreciate this article!

Happy with this story? Show your appreciation with a small contribution! That's how you help keep independent cultural journalism alive. (If you don't see a button below, use this link: donation!)

Donate smoothly
Donate

Why donate?

We are convinced that good investigative journalism and expert background information are essential for a healthy cultural sector. There is not always space and time for that. Culture Press does want to provide that space and time, and keep it accessible to everyone for FREE! Whether you are rich, or poor. Thanks to donations From readers like you, we can continue to exist. This is how Culture Press has existed since 2009!

You can also become a member, then turn your one-off donation into lasting support!

Wijbrand Schaap

Cultural journalist since 1996. Worked as theatre critic, columnist and reporter for Algemeen Dagblad, Utrechts Nieuwsblad, Rotterdams Dagblad, Parool and regional newspapers through Associated Press Services. Interviews for TheaterMaker, Theatererkrant Magazine, Ons Erfdeel, Boekman. Podcast maker, likes to experiment with new media. Culture Press is called the brainchild I gave birth to in 2009. Life partner of Suzanne Brink roommate of Edje, Fonzie and Rufus. Search and find me on Mastodon.View Author posts

Small Membership
175 / 12 Months
Especially for organisations with a turnover or grant of less than 250,000 per year.
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
5 trial newsletter subscriptions
All our podcasts
Have your say on our policies
Insight into finances
Exclusive archives
Posting press releases yourself
Own mastodon account on our instance
Cultural Membership
360 / Year
For cultural organisations
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
10 trial newsletter subscriptions
All our podcasts
Participate
Insight into finances
Exclusive archives
Posting press releases yourself
Own mastodon account on our instance
Collaboration
Private Membership
50 / Year
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
All our podcasts
Have your say on our policies
Insight into finances
Exclusive archives
Own mastodon account on our instance
en_GBEnglish (UK)