Set in the barren lands of Sardnia, the novel involves the themes of poverty, honor and superstition. Early 20th Century rural Sardnia described in the book is still nowadays a combination of an apparently static society, related to millenary customs, and a land striding towards a both industrial and technological progress. Unlike other artists of that time, discussing the most sensitive and concerned about its cultural side, grasping the deep and upsetting meaning of this change. We can see this in her projection of the island community. It is not a story for its own sake, neither is it enclosed within the Sardnian borders. What was valid for the island was also for Italy at the time, and the world.