In the summer of 1930...
Illustration
In the summer of 1930, a penniless Italian living in exile in Switzerland, who adopted the pseudonym Igazio Silone, wrote a novel about peasant life under Fascism in his native region of the Abruzzi. Printed in 1933 on the eve of the Spanish Civil War and selling more than a million and a half copies, in 27 languages, Fontamara forced the world to take sides on the Franco regime, and influenced an entire generation of American intellectuals.
His second novel, Bread and Wine, met with even greater success and was used by the Allies to win the support of Italians when they invaded Italy in 1943. However, information in recent years has disclosed that Silone, in the decade before he became a writer, when he was known by his birth name of Secondo Tranquilli, acted as an informant for the Fascist police, destroying groups of people who were working against the Fascists. Then almost overnight, he remade himself, and in his own words he "started a new life in order to do good," shedding his identity as Secondo Tranquilli and becoming Ignazio Silone.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are to be transformed from the old nature to the new nature, from being focused on what is earthly to becoming heavenly-minded disciples of Jesus Christ.
--Guettler
His second novel, Bread and Wine, met with even greater success and was used by the Allies to win the support of Italians when they invaded Italy in 1943. However, information in recent years has disclosed that Silone, in the decade before he became a writer, when he was known by his birth name of Secondo Tranquilli, acted as an informant for the Fascist police, destroying groups of people who were working against the Fascists. Then almost overnight, he remade himself, and in his own words he "started a new life in order to do good," shedding his identity as Secondo Tranquilli and becoming Ignazio Silone.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are to be transformed from the old nature to the new nature, from being focused on what is earthly to becoming heavenly-minded disciples of Jesus Christ.
--Guettler
