Many of these stories were written by Aline Valangin in Comologno in the Onsernone Valley to read to her guests, including Ignazio Silone, bringing variety to the long evenings in the remote mountain village. The tales are set in a narrow Ticino mountain valley. Aline Valangin is a keen observer of the village and its inhabitants, and her stories depict clever individuals and rebels, drinkers and outsiders, as well as women who felt and endured the hardships of life most acutely. In her narratives, she does not seek the idyllic, romanticized Ticino, but rather the primal, wild passions. Her characters are true, intense, and vibrant. Together, the stories form a compelling portrait of Ticino in the 1930s and 1940s, unvarnished, realistic, and masterful.