The House by the Medlar Tree

Author(s): Giovanni Verga, Mary A. Craig

Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction, Travel Fiction, Family Life

Narrators: Tom Denholm

Number of Chapters: 20

Length: 09 hours and 18 minutes

Language: English

In a nineteenth century Sicilian fishing village, the Malavoglia family gambles everything on being able to profit from a cargo of lupin nuts. The cargo is lost at sea and a succession of misfortunes and tragedies assails the family. A masterpiece of social commentary hailed within Italy but neglected by the wider world, The House by the Medlar Tree ranks alongside the works of Zola, Dickens or Balzac among the great books of European literature. The book is the inspiration behind the 1948 film 'La Terra Trema' ('The Earth Trembles'), one of the earliest works of the great Italian director Luchino Visconti. - Summary by Tom Denholm