Nuove Storie D'ogni Colore

In the bustling streets of late 19th-century Milan, a humble umbrella dealer named Gerolamo Bacchetta reflects on the quiet tragedies and unexpected consolations of ordinary life. His business partner Battista Batacchi has married the remarkable Paolina, whose charm transforms their modest shop into something resembling happiness. Then tragedy strikes: Battista dies young, leaving Paolina a widow with her daughter Letizia. As Gerolamo offers his support, he discovers feelings he believed long buried stirring back to life. These are stories of everyday loss and the strange ways love sometimes returns disguised as companionship, or duty, or simply the courage to try again. De Marchi writes with tender irony about the Milanese middle class, their small ambitions, their quiet desperation, and the small dignities they maintain against the current of life. These colorful stories earned their author a devoted readership that has endured for over a century.