Matteo Pellegrini
About:
Carrè, 1995. He grew up in the foothills of the Asiago Plateau, now lives in Verona where he runs a small cinema. In 2021 he published the short story collection Piccolo atlante del mio incescpicare with Aurora Edizioni. I cacciatori di topi is his first novel.
I cacciatori di topi / Matteo Pellegrini. – Minceto | Ge : Temposospeso, 2024. – 380 p. ; 19,5 cm. – (Temposospeso ; 9). – isbn 979-12-81467-15-6.
Why we propose to publish this book:
The debut of a young fresh voice, but already with a broad view on life and history around the progress we find ourselves in. A novel about friendship and the struggles of growing up, being unique, dreaming big and dealing with limitations, both internal and external, that come with life.
THE RAT HUNTERS
a novel about growing up and about friendship. Recommended for young adults!
Abstract:
Stefano has never gone beyond the forest: he only knows the valley with its paths, hares and grumpy farmers. His friends are Emma, who has learnt to read from a fair’s price list, Augusto, who carves figurines and is never sad, and Joshua, strong and athletic, who takes beatings from his father. Together they dream of embarking for distant seas, of getting on great adventures to prove their worth. But when a mining company invades their valley, they realize that even there, among the bare houses that saw them grow up, there are things worth fighting for, and that real enemies are more insidious than the orcs they fought with as children.
A look into the book:
‘He recognized his father by the dry, stony smell of the jacket against which he held his face to protect it from the lash of the air. From time to time something would hit them, but Bruno would advance determinedly. Bruno with no money, who didn’t even frighten his children, unhinged and unsuccessful, now looked like a mountain against the storm. They walked in the direction of home but, when they were a hundred meters away, Stephen heard his father stop, hesitate for a moment, and then take a few more steps before putting him down.There, in a hollow in the ground, Stephen’s mother and siblings lay on the cold grass, protected by four layers of blankets that they clung to with their little hands. Bruno made Stefano lie down next to the others, then lay down on top of the whole family to keep the wind from blowing the blankets away. Clinging to his mother’s body, crushed by his father’s weight, Stefano wondered why they had not stayed in the house. Crying as the rivers of air rushed angrily overhead, his brothers stood clinging to the ground, their ears full of too much noise.’ p.21