Novel
The Mill on the Po
Il mulino del Po
Riccardo Bacchelli · 1938
Synopsis
In 1812, during the Russian campaign, the soldier Lazzaro Scacerni saves an officer's life at a river crossing. Back in Ferrara, he comes into possession of a small treasure and uses it to build a floating mill on the Po, the San Michele. The novel follows several generations of the Scacerni family, millers who live off the river, through a century of Italian history, from the Napoleonic era to the war of 1914-1918.
Context
The novel was published in three volumes, “Dio ti salvi” by Treves in 1938, then “La miseria viene in barca” in 1939 and “Mondo vecchio sempre nuovo” in 1940; in 1957 the author gave a definitive complete edition of it with Mondadori. The Britannica regards it as his masterpiece. Claire Perfumo translated it into French for the éditions du Rocher, in three volumes; in English, the first two volumes appeared in 1950 under the title “The Mill on the Po”, the third in 1955 under that of “Nothing New Under the Sun”.
Who it is for
A long family saga in three volumes, each of which can be read as a novel in its own right.
Prizes and reception
Alberto Lattuada adapted it for the cinema in 1949, and Sandro Bolchi twice for television, in 1963 and 1971.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.