ITALY HAD ITS OWN ‘TITANIC’ …
ADVENTURE, LOVE AND DEATH ON A TRAIN
INSPIRED BY A DEVASTATING TRUE STORY

In the freezing night of 3rd March 1944, the train travelling from Naples to Potenza was found at a stop in a tunnel near Balvano. Hundreds of bodies lay inside and all around it. Of course, massacres are not uncommon in wartime, but these corpses had no wounds. To unravel the mystery of goods train 8017 we must go back in time, elbow our way up onto the long convoy and look the clandestine passengers in the face. Like Rocco the rogue, looking for loot in the crowd. Or Brando, forced to look after his family too young. When his pure determined gaze meets that of Nora, the daughter of Dr Moscati (who is on the train to find his lost son) their souls make an indissoluble connection. But something is tormenting the girl: she has seen the imminent danger in the form of malombre, dark presences that are harbingers of death according to popular belief. But who will believe her?

• The legends and the truth about Italy’s most serious railway disaster, long-forgotten over the years, in a sweeping and powerful story.

• The style is also suited to adult readers, appealing to parents and teachers.

MANLIO CASTAGNA

Manlio was born in Salerno in 1974. In 1997 he wrote and directed the multi-award-winning short film Indice di frequenza starring Alessandro Haber in the lead role. For over twenty years he has been involved in organising the Giffoni Film Festival, and was deputy artistic director from 2007-2018. Screenwriter and director of hundreds of videoclips, documentaries and short films. He is involved in neuro-linguistic programming and audiovisual semiology. From 2014-2018 he was artistic consultant and member of the Creative Committee at the DOHA FILM INSTITUTE (Qatar). He made his narrative debut with the bestseller trilogy Petrademone (Mondadori 2018-2019),  translated into various languages. He co-authored Le belve (PIEMME 2020) with Guido Sgardoli.