La Brigantessa

by Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli

  He nods to each of them respectfully. “When I return, Abbess Emanuela, I will have the gifts that Luciano wants, and also something I want to give to you, to express my gratitude for your kindness and care, and to all the Sisters as well. I will never forget it.”

  The abbess shakes her head. “Your gratitude is gift enough, Signor Tonino. Now be on your way, young man. And may God be with you. Don’t forget to take this sack from Sister Caterina; she has packed some figs and cheese and other surprises for your journey.”

  Tonino thanks them warmly and walks away without looking back. He doesn’t want Luciano or the Sisters to see the fear in his eyes, the fear that he won’t be able to keep his promise to the boy and return with Gabriella and Don Simone….

  Squeezing his eyes to curb the tears that are prickling the corners, Tonino leaves the convent and strides to the mule cart that awaits him a few paces away. The abbess has insisted that he be driven to Camini, instead of riding a mule himself. He nods at the driver, a labourer called Cristoforo, who transports the Sisters’ woven blankets, rugs, and baskets to sell at markets in the neighbouring hamlets. Tonino makes himself comfortable against one side amidst the neatly stacked baskets and he signals to the driver to start off.

  Tonino listens to the clip-clop of the mule’s hooves on the cobblestone path as it approaches the turnoff that will lead them through the countryside to Camini. The cart suddenly jolting to a stop unseats him. He hears Cristoforo mutter a curse as he rights himself and readjusts a few tumbled baskets. The mule neighs and Tonino watches Cristoforo jump down and direct the mule to back up. Looking past him, Tonino watches the approach of another mule transporting a cart. The path is too narrow for both carts.

  When Cristoforo has backed up the mule to allow sufficient room for the other driver to begin to pass, he jumps back into his seat and waits, calling out a greeting to the driver when he is close enough to recognize him.

  Tonino leans to one side to wipe his forehead with his shirt sleeve. He should have thought to ask for a straw hat from the Sisters.

  As the cart rumbles past, he sees that there is a passenger in the back as well. He glimpses the man’s back and his bandana. The mule comes to a stop in front of the arched convent doors and Tonino watches the driver jump down before extending a hand to the man in the back. Tonino watches, puzzled. Is the man sick or injured, needing to recover at the convent? “I’m going back for a hat,” he calls out to Cristoforo. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

  Tonino jumps down and begins to walk over to the cart. The passenger has descended and is brushing some straw off his trousers. He is thin, his shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders, his trouser legs ballooning with unfilled space. His hair is surprisingly long.

  Tonino watches as the driver lifts some sacks out of the cart and begins to haul them to the front entrance. The passenger lifts his hands to adjust his bandana and turns to swat at an insect flying past his face. Tonino stops in his tracks and blinks, his heart drumming erratically. It is not the hair that has tumbled out in waves that makes Tonino want to sink to his knees, but the eyes that have always reminded him of the Ionian Sea during a winter storm.

  And the cheeks, flushed like oleander blossoms….

  GABRIELLA MUMBLES UNDER HER BREATH and makes a tight knot behind her head. She is grateful for the bandana and the brigand clothing. Wearing her regular clothes would have caused her no end of discomfort in the full sun. She does feel conspicuous though and imagines that the good Sisters will be taken aback by her appearance.

  She inspects herself again for any errant wisps of straw and dust, then turns to Brother Rocco, who has deposited the last of the baskets near the entryway. She motions at the convent door. To her surprise, she cannot voice her request to be taken to Luciano. She knows she will lose her composure if she does. And she wants to present a stoic front, not just to the Sisters, but to Luciano. There is no time for weakness now. She bites her lip.

  Brother Rocco nods and pounds the massive oak door several times with the iron knocker. Gabriella’s heart begins to pound in response. She realizes she is holding her breath. She looks at the doorway, willing it to open. She expels her breath slowly. Where is everybody, anybody? She is tempted to pull the door open herself and run from cell to cell until she finds Luciano. She wants to hold him, needs to hold him. Take him back to Camini and start a new life. She frowns at Brother Rocco. He holds up a hand. Pazienza.

  Yes, she knows she has to be patient. She bites her lip so hard, she tastes blood. She wipes her face with her sleeve. The heat is monstrous today. She can feel the beads of sweat trickling over her forehead, their saltiness licking at her lips. Every second is too long. Too much time to think. She doesn’t want to think right now. She wants to scream. Her nostrils flare at the perfumed scent of the jasmine flowers and potted oleanders lining the last stretch of the path to the convent.

  Brother Rocco, seemingly unperturbed by the heat or the delay, taps on the door again. Gabriella stares unblinkingly at the motion, counting each tap silently.

  When the door finally opens, Brother Rocco greets the abbess and Gabriella bows respectfully, her eyes misting. When she looks up, the abbess is looking at something over Gabriella’s shoulder and smiling.

  Gabriella turns and blinks at the approaching figure. When her eyes clear, the first thing she sees are the oleander flowers in his hand.

  AUTHOR’S NOTES

  La Brigantessa is a work of fiction based on true events that took place in the aftermath of Italy’s Unification in 1861. I have at times taken liberties with some dates and locations. Any details in the novel that deviate from historical facts with regards to time, places, and events have been included to enhance my fictional story. Although my novel is set in Calabria, brigandage and its repression occurred in other regions as well. I have used the names of real places and towns as well as fictional locations.

  Years ago, my mother had mentioned an ancestor who had passed on stories of Giuseppe Garibaldi. My imagination went wild. It is very likely that any one of my ancestors had witnessed or come into contact with this charismatic leader in his quest to unify the south of Italy and Sicily with the rest of Italy. He had passed through many towns in Calabria, inspiring young men to join his army of “Camice Rosse” or “Redshirts” as they were known. On his march toward Rome, which had yet to be united, there was a skirmish in the dense Calabrian mountain range of Aspromonte, and Garibaldi was wounded.

  I was so fascinated with the history of Calabria that I decided to write a novel based on true events. I had purchased a suitcase full of books during a trip to Italy, books that dealt with every aspect of life in Calabria, especially in the post-Unification years, that is, 1861 on. I read about Garibaldi and Cavour, the politics of Unification, the cultural traditions, the role of women, the food, the superstitions, the role of the Church in this period, the hardships suffered by the agrarian population in the south, and the subsequent rise and repression of brigandage. My goal was to bring this fascinating period of southern Italian history to life, because it is a part of my history.

  During a subsequent trip to Italy in 2010, I explored the area in and around the Aspromonte mountain range of Calabria, where brigandage flourished and also where an historic battle took place. General Garibaldi was injured in the Battle of Aspromonte (1862) while attempting to march north to liberate Rome from French protection and unite it with the rest of Italy. I stood by the tree against which Garibaldi was placed after being shot. It stands within an iron enclosure, a plaque marking its historical significance. I could hardly believe that I was standing in a place where 148 years earlier, part of Italian history was being enacted!

  Except for Garibaldi and a few other historical figures, all the characters in my novel have been invented, along with their names. Any similarity to real people is purely coincidental. They are representative of figures in this particular time period and setting: a pe
asant girl and the young man who has asked for her hand, the parish priest who employed her and her father, the wealthy landowner from the North, the brigand chief, and the colonel in charge of the forces of repression of brigandage, a phenomenon that flourished from 1860-1870, a turbulent decade known as “Il Decennio di Fuoco,” The Decade of Fire.

  From my extensive research, I was able to glean insights into the people and circumstances of the agrarian south in the years following Unification. This was a troubled time, where peasants were rebelling against the harsh policies of the newly formed Piedmontese government. These Southerners were struggling with increasing poverty as a result, and many turned to the dangerous life of brigandage. They were forced to go into hiding in wild territory such as the Aspromonte mountain range in Calabria, where the dense woodlands and caves provided refuge and safety.

  The law sought to pursue, capture, and destroy the brigands and anyone who harboured them. The brigands were organized in bands, and each band had a chief whose authority was unquestioned. Sometimes the band included the wife or lover of the chief or of one of the brigands, and these women—the brigantesse—participated in the nomadic and dangerous missions undertaken to survive.

  In my novel, the order of Colonel Michele Russo to attack brigand chief Stefano Galante’s hamlet of Calvino and the punitive actions of Russo’s soldiers are representative of the harsh measures the Piedmont government took toward those with anti-Unification/pro-Bourbon sentiments. I researched the devastating massacre at Pontelandolfo and Casalduni in Campania on August 14th, 1861, which inspired me to include a chapter in La Brigantessa with similar tragic events.

  Naming Gabriella and Tonino’s hamlet “Camini” was an indulgence I permitted myself, since Camini, Reggio Calabria, is where I was born. Although I was only three when my family immigrated to Canada, I have always felt a strong connection to my motherland and to my relatives in the south. In writing this novel, I wanted to honour the lives and sacrifices of my parents and ancestors, and the people of Camini and Calabria in particular.

  REFERENCES

  ITALIAN SOURCES

  Alvaro, Corrado. Gente in Aspromonte. Milano: Garzanti Libri, 2001.

  Alvaro, Corrado. Itinerario italiano. Milano: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, Bompiani, Sonzogno, Etas, 1995.

  Alvaro, Corrado. La Calabria. Libro sussidiario di cultura regionale. Reggio Calabria: Iiriti Editore, 2003.

  Angilletta, Domenico. Camini: Tra paesaggio arte e storia. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Industrie Grafiche ed Editoriali, 2009.

  Berto, Giuseppe. Il Brigante. Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Scuola, 1989.

  Bourelly, Giuseppe. Il brigantaggio dal 1860 al 1865. Potenza: Edizioni Osanna Venosa, 1987.

  Brandon-Albini, Maria. Calabria. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Editore, 2007.

  Calabria Sconosciuta: Rivista Trimestrale di Cultura e Turismo. Reggio Calabria: Falzea Editore, Aprile Giugno 2004.

  Caligiuri, Mario. Breve storia della Calabria dalle origini ai giorni nostri. Milano:Tascabili Economici Newton, 1997.

  Casaburi, Mario. Donne di Calabria. Nobili e borghesi tra Unificazione e avvento del Fascismo. Catanzaro Lido: C.B.C. Edizioni, 1998.

  Cava, Tommaso. Analisi politica del Brigantaggio Attuale Nell’Italia Meridionale. Ristampa dell’edizione di Napoli, 1865. Napoli: Arnaldo Forni Editore, 1983.

  Cavallaro, Alessandro. Il barone di Montebello e la strage degli Alberti di Pentidattilo. Reggio Calabria: Laruffa Editore, 2002.

  Comi, Silvana. In Calabria con Swinburne. Letture da “Travels in the Two Sicilies.” Calabria: Edizioni Parallelo, 1976.

  Crupi, Pasquino. Il paesaggio storico Calabrese nei testi letterari tra ottocento e novecento. Reggio Calabria: Città del Sole Edizioni, 2007.

  De Leo,Antonio. Briganti sbirri cafoni e manutengoli in Calabria: Note sul brigantaggio calabrese negli anni 1799-1870. Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore, 1981.

  De Simone, Eugenio. Atterrite queste popolazioni. La repressione del brigantaggio in Calabria nel carteggio privato Sacchi-Milon. 1868-1870. Cosenza: editoriale progetto 2000, 1994.

  Di Lampedusa, Tomasi. Il Gattopardo. Milano: Feltrinelli Editore, 1999.

  Dorsa, Vincenzo. L’origine greco-latina delle tradizioni calabresi. Catanzaro Lido: C.B.C. Edizioni, 1998.

  Douglas, Norman. Vecchia Calabria. Firenze: Giunti Gruppo Editoriale, 1992.

  Dumas, Alexandre. Viaggio in Calabria. Messina: Rubbettino Editore, 1996.

  Fenaroli, Luigi. Flora mediterranea. Firenze: Giunti Gruppo Editoriale, 1998.

  Furfaro, Lina. Il monastero di Sant’Anna. 91344-1891.. Gioiosa Jonica: Corab Edizioni, 1998.

  Garibaldi, Giuseppe. Memorie (a cura di Alberto Burgos). Udine: Gaspari Editore, 2004.

  Gaudioso, Francesco. Calabria ribelle. Brigantaggio e sistemi repressivi nel Cosentino (1860-1870). Milano: FrancoAngeli, 1996.

  Grignola, Antonella e Ceccoli, Paolo. Garibaldi: Una vita per la libertà. Firenze-Milano: Giunti Editore, 2004.

  Irving, Washington. Storie di briganti italiani. Milano: Einaudi scuola, 1994.

  Lear, Edward. Diario di un viaggio a piedi. Reggio Calabria e la sua provincia. 25 luglio-5 settembre 1847. Reggio Calabria: Laruffa Editore, 2003.

  Mack Smith, Denis. Cavour e Garibaldi nel 1860. Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore, Reprints Einaudi, 1977.

  Mack Smith, Denis. Storia d’Italia 1861/1969. Roma-Bari: Editori Laterza, 1982.

  Meridiani Calabria. Rivista Mensile, Luglio Agosto 19960

  Montanelli, Indro e Nozza, Marco. Garibaldi. Ritratto dell’eroe dei due mondi. Milano: SB Saggi, 2002.

  Nisticò, Ulderico. Storia delle Calabria. Cosenza: Edizioni Brenner, 1984.

  Romeo, Domenica Gabriella. Artigianato tradizionale e arte popolare in Calabria. Reggio Calabria: Laruffa Editore, 2004.

  Romeo, Pietro A. Ippolita, sorella del brigante Musolino. Reggio Calabria: Laruffa Editore, 2007.

  ENGLISH SOURCES

  Abba, Giuseppe Cesare. The Diary of one of Garibaldi’s Thousand. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981.

  Alvaro, Corrado. Revolt in Aspromonte. Norfolk: New Directions, 1962.

  Barish, Eileen. The Guide to Lodging in Italy’s Monasteries. Scottsdale: Anacapa Press, 2003.

  Coccioli, Carlo. The Little Valley of God. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.

  Douglas, Norman. Old Calabria. London: Picador Travel, 1994.

  Duggan, Christopher. The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy since 1796. London: Penguin Books, 2007.

  Gissing, George. By the Ionian Sea: Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1996.

  Guernsey, Alfred H. “Three Months With Italian Brigands.” Harper’s Magazine, August 1866 issue.

  Hibbert, Christopher. Garibaldi and His Enemies. London: Penguin Books, 1987.

  Hobsbawm, E. J. Primitive Rebels: Studies in Archaic Forms of Social Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1965.

  Jepson, Tim. Wild Italy. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1994.

  Lawrence, D. H. D. H. Lawrence and Italy. London: Penguin Classics, 2007.

  Lear, Edward. Journals of a Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria, [etc.]. Charleston: BiblioLife, 2016.

  Lintner, Valerio. A Traveller’s History of Italy: Fifth Edition. Brooklyn: Interlink Books, 1998.

  Mack Smith, Denis. Cavour and Garibaldi 1860. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

  Moens, William John Charles. English Travellers and Italian Brigands: A Narrative of Capture and Captivity. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1866. Digitized: University of Pittsburgh Library System.

  Montgomery, Michael. Lear’s Italy: In the Footsteps of Edward Lear. London: Cadogan, 2005.

  Pirandello, Luigi. The Oil Jar and Other Stories. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995.

  Rotella, Mar
k. Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria. New York: North Point Press, 2003.

  Seton-Watson, Christopher. Italy from Liberalism to Fascism 1870-1925. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1967.

  Talese, Gay. Unto The Sons. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

  Trevelyan, George Macaulay. Garibaldi and the Making of Italy, June-November, 1860. London: Phoenix Press, 2001.

  Viviano, Frank. Blood Washes Blood: A True Story of Love, Murder, and Redemption Under the Sicilian Sun. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  There are so many people to thank for their part in my writing journey to complete La Brigantessa.

  When I first conceived of the idea for this story, incredibly twenty years ago, my father was the first person I interviewed. I asked him to tell me about the tradition of the hog slaughter, which eventually became the focus of the first chapter. I only wish I had recorded him. His kindness, intelligence, and compassion have inspired me in so many ways throughout my life. He, along with my devoted and hard-working mother, taught me many life lessons, and I honour their sacrifices and hardships as immigrants by writing about the land of their birth, the land they loved but had to leave in the economic crisis of the sixties.

  Throughout the long and winding road to publication, I have been blessed with the constant support of my husband Nic, who encouraged me to believe in myself as a writer and to invest in my growth. He read every draft, provided insights, and contributed in countless ways while I immersed myself in my fictional world. Nic has always supported my big dreams through thick and thin. Our children Sarah, Jordan, and Nathan continue to cheer me on.

  Many family members and dear friends—including my “Craft & Chat” and “Lively” groups—have demonstrated ongoing enthusiasm for my project. Special thanks to my brothers Cosimo and Pat Micelotta & families, and to my (late) Zio Pietro, Zia Elsa, and cousin Mary Adavastro.