The “Cesare Pavese” Public Library opens its new season of literary encounters, with a great novelty this year: the involvement of local producers, who will host the various events themselves.

The meeting

The first appointment of this new season will take place on Friday, October 23 at 6:00 PM at Tojo, a winery run by young producers from Santo Stefano.

Here Elena Varvello will present her latest work, La vita sempre, published by Guanda and finalist for the 2026 Premio Campiello, in a conversation with Chiara D’Aurizio, a teacher of literature and history, as well as a representative of the G. Ghiosso Public Library of Piobesi d’Alba, with whom the event is organized.

The event is also organized in collaboration with the L’ibrida Bottega bookshop in Turin.

The work

The novel unfolds between the two World Wars and follows the story of Francesco and Teresa.

Francesco is a handsome young man, incorrigibly dishonest, full of life. He will become a man of brazen, irresistible charm, a seducer, a gambler who believes luck is on his side, a deserter, a fugitive.

Teresa, on the contrary, was born on “a street of beggars”, with large dark eyes and slight shoulders but an iron will. She will become a very serious student, the only one in her courtyard to graduate, a young woman who keeps her dreams in check.

The two could not be more different, and yet they are drawn to each other by that impetus of life which overpowers everything, even fascism, even war, even poverty.

With the strength of great literature, Elena Varvello builds a poignant novel, the story of a love and, at the same time, a portrait of voices, stories, and destinies, a close confrontation with memory and unspoken things, giving us unforgettable characters, full of courage and rebellion, of a longing for freedom.

La vita sempre is the story of life trying to resist History. A life that, everywhere and always, raises its song to the sky—a song of love.