From the age of seventeen, in 1888, Grazia Deledda began to be published in a number of magazines with poems and short stories. In a short time her fame among writers and intellectuals grew, and Deledda turned to novels. She married in 1900 and moved to Rome; in the following years she would publish dozens of plays and successful novels, such as Ivy and Reeds in the Wind, her most celebrated book, which earned her the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature. She was the second woman ever (and the first Italian) to win it.
She died of breast cancer in 1936, aged 65.
Reeds in the Wind, published in instalments in 1913, is a sort of forerunner of the noir on Sardinian soil. In rural Sardinia at the start of the twentieth century, a father is found mysteriously dead. Is it a heinous crime or an unfortunate accident? The story is thus retraced and clarified, interweaving the wretched condition of women, fate, human frailty and ambition.
The Literary Park dedicated to Deledda and to Reeds in the Wind is a highly evocative route in the heart of central-eastern Sardinia: specifically in the village of Galtellì (with the accent on the i).
Set in a commanding, panoramic position between the slopes of Monte Tuttavista and the banks of the River Cedrino, no more than ten or so kilometres from the enchanting beaches of the Gulf of Orosei, and surrounded by the colours and scents of a unique land, Galtellì is a village that can still evoke an aura of mystery today.
Grazia was often a guest of the Pintor family within these walls and along these little streets. And it was from here that she drew inspiration to conceive the setting of her most famous novel, which takes place in a village called Galte.
Strolling through the lanes and alleys, visitors can recognise, thanks to a series of signs, the key stages and places of the novel. The itinerary starts from the Ethnographic Museum: itself a small gem, housed in the old Marras house, which gathers evidence of Sardinian farming and pastoral life, from the processing of wheat to weaving and tending the vineyard.
The end point of the full immersion in Deledda’s ancient Sardinia is the park of the Church of San Pietro, another gem of Galtellì. In the Pisan Romanesque style, the little church boasts inside ancient frescoes rediscovered only a few years ago, depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments: they are considered among the oldest in all of Sardinia.
You must also be sure to visit (and perhaps stay for a few nights) in one of the castles in the village’s territory.
The ghosts of the ancient Barons came down from the ruins of the castle above the village of Galte. So wrote Grazia Deledda in the novel.
And indeed Galtellì has a fascinating manor: Castello Malicas, dating from 1900. Commissioned by a Lombard nobleman, Paolo Guzzetti, who, bewitched by the village, decided to settle here and build his hunting residence, it now houses a characterful hotel, whose rooms are furnished in Sardinian style and each named after the various characters from some of Grazia Deledda’s novels.
For information and bookings: https://www.castellomalicas.com/
A word of warning, though. If you want to take a complete tour of Deledda’s places, you cannot stop at the admittedly beautiful Galtellì.
There are other literary parks in Sardinia dedicated to Grazia Deledda, such as those of Nuoro and Orune. These too offer important and fascinating itineraries, based on the pages of the great writer and Sardinian woman: one of the literary godmothers of the twentieth century, not only in Italy but in Europe.
The Grazia Deledda Park:
https://www.parchiletterari.com/parchi/grazia-deledda/index.php
Where Galtellì is:
Galtellì lies at the centre of the marvellous Gulf of Orosei, just 8 km from the most evocative beaches on the island’s east coast.
Recently awarded the Orange Flag by the Touring Club Italiano and part of the Borghi Autentici d’Italia network, it offers welcoming accommodation (farm stays, B&Bs, residences, hotels).
