The Sisters of Albano

As the sun set, a flood of light poured into the lake valley, bathing the dark barrier of mountains in liquid gold. The domes and towers of the city visible in the distance flashed and shimmered, the trees were tinged with splendor; two or three light clouds, soaked in the rays to the point of becoming their very essence, floated like small golden islands in the glittering empyrean.
In an era witnessing the occupation of Rome by French troops more than two centuries ago, the selfless sacrifice of two sisters in a romantic and humble Italy, pervaded by dark flashes of violence, is imagined by an English writer who loved and knew Italy well. Behind the veil of narrative reinvention, we can recognize in this story by Mary Shelley a desire to reaffirm an instinct for invincible freedom, in passionately pursuing a love forbidden by the laws of the world.

Stella Sacchini is a writer and translator. She teaches English Language and Translation at the University of Macerata. She has translated many authors, including C. Dickens, J. Williams, M. Twain, C. Brontë, F. Baum, J. S. Le Fanu, J. London, L. M. Alcott, H. P. Lovecraft, Raven Leilani, William Finnegan, Josephine Johnson, Apuleius, Ovid, and Apollonius Rhodius. She edits the series "Tentacles: Little Books of H. P. Lovecraft" for Oscar Fantastica. She is the author of Fuori posto (Coazinzola Press, 2013) and O magico di parole: Giacomo Leopardi (Giaconi Editore, 2019). In 2014, she won the Babel Prize for literary translation. She is responsible for "The Translator in the Classroom: The Voice of the Other," a project that brings translation to schools of all levels, and for "Attraversamenti," a translation workshop (in collaboration with the CPIA of Fermo and the SAI network) for migrants and refugees. Since 2018, she has been the director of "BookMarchs – The Other Voice," a festival dedicated to books and their translators. She has written and continues to write about language, literature, and translation for "Doppiozero," "Left," and "Il Post." Together with other colleagues, she edits "Linguafranca," the collective poetry translation blog for "Fatto Quotidiano." Since 2021, she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Casa delle Traduzioni in Rome. Since 2020, she has edited the series "The Translator in the Classroom Notebooks" for Giaconi Editore, where she publishes translations resulting from translation workshops in schools and universities.