1945-1975: this was the golden age of Italian cinema, full of masterpieces that left their mark on the entire history of film. From the ruins of war arose Neorealism, the “movement” that, with Rossellini, Visconti and De Sica-Zavattini, changed the way cinema was made and conceived forever. From the early 1950s, the revolutionary charge of Neorealism faded, becoming contaminated with popular genres such as comedy and other forms of popular cinema, passing through the golden 1960s with the affirmation of great auteur cinema (Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, etc.), “Italian-style comedy” and other genres (such as spaghetti westerns), until the anxieties, experiments and new sensibilities of the early 1970s. A long history in which Italian cinema reflects and reworks the enormous political, social, economic and cultural changes experienced by the country during those crucial three decades.

1945-1975: this was the golden age of Italian cinema, full of masterpieces that left their mark on the entire history of film. From the ruins of war arose Neorealism, the “movement” that, with Rossellini, Visconti and De Sica-Zavattini, changed the way cinema was made and conceived forever. From the early 1950s, the revolutionary charge of Neorealism faded, becoming contaminated with popular genres such as comedy and other forms of popular cinema, passing through the golden 1960s with the affirmation of great auteur cinema (Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, etc.), “Italian-style comedy” and other genres (such as spaghetti westerns), until the anxieties, experiments and new sensibilities of the early 1970s. A long history in which Italian cinema reflects and reworks the enormous political, social, economic and cultural changes experienced by the country during those crucial three decades.

Domenico Petrolo, in his new book La stagione dell’identità (FrancoAngeli), offers a candid and innovative analysis of how political consensus is shifting in the West, describing both its distortions and the keys to interpreting it. We will discuss it on GO together with Paola Concia and Erika Pontini.

The book

We are living in the age of identity. Identity—a theme so intangible yet at the same time so concrete. Who are we? What is our place in the world? What will become of the community where we were born and raised?
The rapid changes of recent decades have improved our lives, bringing progress and prosperity. At the same time, however, they have upended the contexts in which we live. Globalization, immigration, radical Islam, woke ideology, demographic transformations, the digital revolution: phenomena that have left large segments of the population disoriented and deprived of certainties.

Above all, the working classes—once the electoral base of the left—are now firmly aligned with the right. Millions of voters no longer see the fight against economic inequality as a priority, but instead proudly claim the defense of their values and their identity, both as individuals and as communities. And they are ready to vote for those who recognize and embrace these demands.

Populists have understood this very well; traditional conservatives struggle, precisely because on the right there is always someone better at building walls. For progressives, meanwhile, the issue of identity is like kryptonite for Superman: they regard traditional identity as a relic of the past, while celebrating multicultural and cosmopolitan identities. This is true in Trump’s America, but also in Europe—from Germany to Great Britain, and, of course, Italy.

The age of identity does not necessarily have to be the one envisioned by the far right. But those who think they can avoid the issue or resolve it with a few extra euros in wages or some tax deductions are destined to sit on the Opposition benches for a long time.

The volume is enriched by the author’s dialogues with Romano Prodi, Philipp Blom, Catherine Fieschi, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Guido Tabellini, Nicola Gennaioli, Emanuele Caroppo, and Colin Crouch.

The author

Domenico Petrolo holds a degree in Political Communication. He began his career in the cultural sector and later moved into political communication and electoral strategy, taking part in numerous national and local campaigns alongside various political leaders. From 2015 to 2018, he coordinated the national Democratic Party’s 2×1000 campaign and the fundraising activities of several nonprofit organizations. In 2024, together with Lorenzo Incantalupo, he published Chi mi ama mi voti (Guerini e Associati). He is the founder and director of Cuntura, a company specializing in strategy, communication, public relations, networking, and diplomacy. Raised in Pernocari, he lives between Rome and Florence.

Luca Bianchini arrives at GO to sign copies of Le ragazze di Tunisi (Mondadori), a vibrant and colorful novel that moves and surprises readers, filled with family memories and hilarious anecdotes in a story shared by many Italians.

The Book:

“I didn’t truly know my mother’s family history until one day I started asking questions.” — Luca Bianchini

Tunis, 1959–1961. The Brancata family is one of the many Sicilian-origin families who went to Tunisia in search of America—and did not always find it. Instead, they lived peacefully alongside the French, who were still in power at the time, as well as Tunisians, Jews, and Maltese.

In this cosmopolitan setting, Maria—a beautiful, proud, and determined thirty-eight-year-old—watches her three teenage daughters grow up. She takes care of them on her own, as her husband works in the countryside and is almost always away. To cope with financial hardship, she takes on small sewing jobs at home in the Borgel neighborhood, on the ground floor of a building overlooking a courtyard where everyone knows everyone else.

Upstairs, a quiet widower courts her discreetly, but Maria is too busy keeping an eye on her girls—especially Anna, the eldest. Sixteen years old, Anna loves reading and watching ships on the horizon. Thanks to Uncle Jojo—the family’s charming Latin rogue who pays for her education—she attends one of the best schools in Tunis. Love still feels out of reach for her, but fortunately she has Marinette, her French friend, who introduces her to a world of cinema, beautiful clothes, and strolls along Avenue de France.

Constantly underfoot are her sisters: Vitina, who seems to think only about singing and gymnastics, and Pupetta, the family’s outspoken little voice of reason.

All around them is a lively city where the characters move through a suspended moment in time, caught between melancholy and uncertainty. With Tunisia’s independence, a season of farewells approaches for many. Yet it is precisely the fear of change that ignites hearts, sparks new stories, and reveals long-held secrets—within a microcosm of resentful uncles, curious neighbors, endless couscous, and anxious evenings spent in front of the television.

The Author:

Luca Bianchini was born on February 11, 1970, in Turin. He still writes in the kitchen, although he has yet to learn how to fry food as well as his mother.

Since 2003, Mondadori has published all his novels: Instant love, Ti seguo ogni notte, the biography of Eros Ramazzotti(Eros – Lo giuro), Se domani farà bel tempo, Siamo solo amici, Io che amo solo te and La cena di Natale—both adapted into highly successful films—Dimmi che credi al destino, Nessuno come noi (later brought to the big screen), So che un giorno tornerai, Baci da Polignano, Le mogli hanno sempre ragione, and Il cuore è uno zingaro.

Vera Buck comes to GO for the signing of Buio (Giunti), her latest thriller — a novel that will keep you glued to the pages with its unforgettable characters, breathtaking setting, and haunting atmosphere.

The book:

A house for one euro: for Tilda, a young German woman of Italian origin, it feels like an incredible stroke of luck. She wants to cut ties with her previous life, and a villa in Sardinia seems perfect. Botigalli is every restoration-loving architect’s dream: an abandoned village perched high in the mountains of Barbagia, around fifty houses and a single road leading to a picturesque church.

It also represents a radical change — manual labor, solitude, and good food.

But the idyll of this place suspended in time does not last long. The village, which at first seemed completely deserted, begins to stir in unsettling ways: strange noises, objects moved from their places, and then a terrible secret dating back to the summer of 1982 — the year of the World Cup and the Italy–Germany final — when a shooting left all its inhabitants dead.

No one truly knows what happened that day, and the only survivor, the elderly Silvio, stubbornly refuses to speak, even though a journalist visits him every Sunday trying to persuade him to tell his tragic story. And Tilda, despite herself, will suddenly find herself pulled into it.

Bringing light into the darkness of those years will be the only way to get out… unharmed. Because in this harsh and isolated land, terrible things have happened — and are still happening.

The author:

Vera Buck is a German author. She studied journalism, literature, and screenwriting in Europe and Hawaii, and worked as a freelance writer in Zurich.

Bambini lupo, published in Italy by Giunti in 2024, marked her debut in the thriller genre and was both a critical and commercial success in Germany. She has also published La casa sull'albero (2025) and Buio (2026) with Giunti.

Lyra Sunrise is coming to GO for the signing event of her debut novel Twist of Fate, Vol. 1 – Obsession (Sperling & Kupfer)!
Preorders of the book, which will grant you a pass, can be placed in our bookstore starting Friday, February 6.

Useful information

Here’s how the signing event will work:

• The priority pass is available with a preorder of the book made in our store only, or with the purchase of the book in-store only from the release date up to the day of the event. Passes will be distributed in time slots.

• To access the priority line, you must show your pass (with the correct time slot) to the staff member in charge.

• Once the priority line is finished, everyone else who did not purchase the book from us (and therefore does not have a pass) will be able to access the signing.

•  

The book

Delia Foster has learned how to survive. Raised in the shadow of an absent mother and a past that broke her, she built an armor to protect herself and chase her dreams. But when she flies to New York with her best friend Lynn to start over, fate has another challenge in store for her.
Her path crosses with the Harris brothers, heirs to the most powerful multinational company in America: Alexander, thirty-six, with icy eyes; and Erik, as charming as he is impulsive, trapped in a relationship he never chose.
Delia becomes Alexander’s personal assistant—the man she should hate, yet desires with every fiber of her being. Lynn, meanwhile, is forced to confront Erik’s truth, his anger, and his need to finally be himself.
As the line between passion and danger grows thinner, the four are drawn into anonymous threats and secrets someone is ready to expose. And to survive, they’ll have to choose which side to stand on.

The author

Lyra Sunrise is the pen name of a young author from Naples, born in 2007. Since childhood, she has taken refuge in love stories from movies, books, and TV series—where her passion for writing was born. Twist of Fate is her debut novel.

1945-1975: this was the golden age of Italian cinema, full of masterpieces that left their mark on the entire history of film. From the ruins of war arose Neorealism, the “movement” that, with Rossellini, Visconti and De Sica-Zavattini, changed the way cinema was made and conceived forever. From the early 1950s, the revolutionary charge of Neorealism faded, becoming contaminated with popular genres such as comedy and other forms of popular cinema, passing through the golden 1960s with the affirmation of great auteur cinema (Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, etc.), “Italian-style comedy” and other genres (such as spaghetti westerns), until the anxieties, experiments and new sensibilities of the early 1970s. A long history in which Italian cinema reflects and reworks the enormous political, social, economic and cultural changes experienced by the country during those crucial three decades.

1945-1975: this was the golden age of Italian cinema, full of masterpieces that left their mark on the entire history of film. From the ruins of war arose Neorealism, the “movement” that, with Rossellini, Visconti and De Sica-Zavattini, changed the way cinema was made and conceived forever. From the early 1950s, the revolutionary charge of Neorealism faded, becoming contaminated with popular genres such as comedy and other forms of popular cinema, passing through the golden 1960s with the affirmation of great auteur cinema (Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, etc.), “Italian-style comedy” and other genres (such as spaghetti westerns), until the anxieties, experiments and new sensibilities of the early 1970s. A long history in which Italian cinema reflects and reworks the enormous political, social, economic and cultural changes experienced by the country during those crucial three decades.