In 2008, Giuseppina Torregrossa was at the International Women's Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy, presenting her first book, "L'Assaggiatrice" (Rubettino). Among the bookshelves of the Libreria dell'Arco, she met Giulia Ichino. One year later, Giuseppina Torregrossa published her hit bestseller "Il conto delle minne" (Mondadori 2009). Then she published "Manna e miele, ferro e fuoco" (Mondadori 2011), "Panza e prisenza" (Mondadori 2012) and "La miscela segreta di casa Olivares" (Mondadori 2014). She published "Adele" -- a play that was produced for the first time at the Festival) -- with nottetempo and "A Santiago con Celeste" in 2014.

Giuseppina Torregrossa is from Palermo and is a gynecologist. She knows about women's lives and can write about them. She has been called the Sicilian Allende. "I'm delighted that someone could consider me the Sicilian Allende but don't ever say that my books are women's fiction. What do I mean by that? My books are for everyone, even though they deal with feelings."

In her latest novel, "Il figlio maschio" (Rizzoli), which will have its book launch in Matera, at the International Women's Fiction Festival, Giuseppina's love for women is tied to her other great love, for books. The upshot is a powerful family saga that covers a century of women, books and the scents of Sicily.

This is the year in which our slogan is 'The future is an open book'. Our Baccante just had to be Giuseppina Torregrossa, in honor of a friendship that began in a bookstore.