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The Healer

The Story of a Curse

Anna Chisari

The Healer

Garzanti

Year: 2025

A healer becomes a feared witch to protect her daughter from a family curse in this spellbinding tale of resilience, fate, and maternal love.

Sicily, mid-19th century. Veneranda Balsamo, once a respected herbalist, is now known as Gnu Ranna—a witch whose name inspires both reverence and fear. Abandoned by her father and raised by a fuliara—a wise woman with near-magical knowledge of medicinal herbs—Veneranda grows into a gifted healer, a lifeline for the women of Belpasso. Yet, in a village steeped in superstition and rigid traditions, no woman is truly safe. When her daughter falls in love with a man from the Baruneddu family—a bloodline cursed for generations—Veneranda makes an unthinkable choice. To defy fate and protect her child, she casts aside her healing arts and embraces her dark reputation.  Can she truly break the cycle of misfortune, or will the curse that has haunted the women in her family continue to claim its next victim? With the wild winds of Mount Etna whispering through its pages, La Fuliara is a gripping, atmospheric novel that weaves folklore, history, and the enduring power of maternal love. Anna Chisari delivers a hauntingly beautiful story about the weight of inherited trauma and the courage it takes to rewrite one’s destiny.

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