Soul of the Border

The first novel in a trilogy set on the border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 19th century. A young woman seeks the truth behind her father's disappearance

Every year, Augusto De Boer undertakes a treacherous journey through the Italian Alps, smuggling his family's tobacco across the border to Austria. With conditions getting harsher, he decides to take his fifteen-year-old daughter Jole along with him, teaching her how to navigate the perilous crags and valleys while avoiding the nocturnal beasts and hostile customs officers.

Three years later, Jole must retrace their steps alone: her father has not returned from the border. With only her horse for company, she makes her way across the starkly beautiful mountain landscape, hoping to provide sustenance for her family and discover the truth about her father's disappearance.

Bursting with hope and depair, Soul of the Border is a lyrical coming-of-age story about revenge, salvation, and a ferocious journey into the wild.

Matteo Righetto lives and works in Padua, at the border of the wilderness of north-eastern Italy. Many of his works take place in beautiful mountain landscapes that he knows deeply, having visited them since childhood backpacking with his father. Soul of the Border has become a literary success and was sold in several countries before its publication in Italy. The second title in the trilogy will be published by Pushkin Press in 2019.