The Eight Mountains

Life carried Pietro Guasti through the most different cities, but fate kept bringing him back here again and again—to the village of Grana, lost among the Italian mountains, standing on a branch of one of the valleys. Even as a child he climbed these winding paths behind his father, clambering up to glaciers and crossing ridges. Here he ran with his mother across meadows covered with lush green grass and adorned with beautiful flowers, and dangled his legs on the edge of dizzyingly high ledges. Here he spent nights in an open-air tent or in shelters that sank into thick evening fog. Here he found a friend with whom he could conquer any peak. Here, near these slopes, a tragedy happened that cannot be forgotten. He grew up in these mountains, became in them the person he is. These stones remember many stories. And now it is time to tell them.