Lavazza renews its collaboration with the Turin Readers’ Circle for the generation and promotion of culture and, above all, for reading. For this reason, on 25 October, La Centrale at Nuvola Lavazza will host the prestigious launch event for the latest book from author Isabel Allende: “A Long Petal of the Sea”.

In August 1939, Pablo Neruda organised what he would later describe as his “most beautiful poem”: the Winnipeg, a ship that brought 2,200 Spanish refugees fleeing retaliations from the Franco regime, to Chile. Isabel Allende has drawn inspiration from this episode to retrace 50 years of her country’s history from a fresh perspective: that of a family of emigrants who, by the end, feel themselves to be fully part of the destiny of the nation that welcomed them so generously. It is an epic journey, with two unforgettable protagonists. Seventy years on from the Winnipeg’s arrival in Santiago, the powerful narrative voice of Isabel Allende takes us to Spain, during the final part of the conflict, then flees with us to the Netherlands, to France, and from there to Chile. Along with the lives of its exiled Catalan protagonists, pianist Roser and doctor Víctor, it retraces the existence of characters such as Neruda and Allende, noteworthy presences in a book that fuses history with imagination, following the familiar pattern through which only Isabel Allende can render an unforgettable narrative of solidarity, integration, and resistance.

Event organised in La Centrale at Nuvola Lavazza – via Ancona 11.

Only requests received from the date and time indicated shall be taken into consideration. Emails requesting bookings shall be handled on a first come first served basis and will no longer be accepted once there are no more places on the list. Bookings should only be considered complete once you have received a confirmation email from the organiser.

The email requesting a booking must contain your name and surname, mobile number and email address. The booking is strictly non-transferrable. Access to the room will be granted according to the names on the list. The event is accessible to people with impaired mobility. Dogs are not permitted.