“Novara 1565, mysteries, ghosts and Templars – Jolanda Filiberta di Challant” is a novel, but in its way it is also a history book thrice true. Number one: it’s true because there is meticulous archival research behind it; everything that is told about the biography of the women of the House of Savoy who take turns in these pages is documented by years of study. Number two: the discovery of a Templar “mansio”, which takes place in the last chapter, is not fantasy but a life experience for the author, Maria Rosa Marsilio, who rummaging through ancient parchments has actually brought to light a castle in the near Novara (Cameri) which had been forgotten; Marsilio has also reconstructed the events of the Templars in this corner of Piedmont, and at the moment she is hunting for a Lombard treasure (or perhaps she has already found it, but she does not say so). Number three: in the cover drawing, which seems to have been taken from a sixteenth century, or from the mysterious books that appear in the film “The Ninth Door”, the physiognomy of the portrayed Jolanda is not at all invented, it corresponds to the features of the author Maria Rosa Marsilio , to which the artist Paola Camoriano was inspired, and even this identification is not an accidental fact, because for years Marsilio has been staging and interpreting the female characters she has been discovering in historical “locations”.
Maria Rosa Marsilio in stage costume during her historical reenactment show
All this is just the background of a book whose plot cannot and must not be told but which contains stories of love and war, diplomatic agreements and wedding pacts, in a historical and geographical “full immersion” in which it prevails. the point there feminine point of view. The atmosphere is from “Game of Thrones” with the difference that what is told is all true, apart from the literary artifice of ghosts which, however, is not abused (this novel is NOT a ghost story).
The author on the back cover of the book
The author Maria Rosa Marsilio explains: “This work is a compendium, which contains the historical research I conducted for the realization of the theatrical meetings offered to the city of Novara. Before the pandemic, splendid visits to Novara monuments were organized with the @rteLab association of Novara, intertwining the Great History with the live stories of the ladies who conversed with the public. During the lockdown I made this book, because it would have been a real shame to disperse the huge research work carried out (you can guess this from the long bibliography). I wanted to make it accessible also to the non-specialized public, in the form of a story, which I hope will be pleasant and smooth: in this way I realized the desire to bring as many people as possible to the history of our territory. Dedicating the book to women, who have crossed the centuries with a thousand difficulties and great strength ”.
“Novara 1565, mysteries, ghosts and Templars – Jolanda Filiberta di Challant”, by Maria Rosa Marsilio, Astragalo Editions, euro 12
The volume will be presented by Maria Rosa Marsilio on Friday 11 June at 5.30 pm at the Canonica del Duomo Museums in Novara. The presentation will be conducted by: Gabriella Depaoli, writer and editor, Lorenzo Del Boca, journalist and essayist, former president of the National Order of Journalists.