Assandira

Assandira is a novel by Giulio Angioni, published in 2004 by Sellerio.

The old Sardinian shepherd Costantino Saru has been persuaded by his son and his Danish daughter in law to establish a hotel restaurant (called Assandira) in his abandoned barn. The characteristic of the company should be to offer European customers, especially from the north, an experience of life in the traditional pastoral world of Sardinia, where the old shepherd Costantino should be a kind of guarantor of authenticity. The company thrives and even Costantino feels at ease playing the part of the ancient Mediterranean shepherd. But one day a fire destroys Assandira, kills his son and causes abortion of her daughter in law. Costantino feels responsible. The reason for his self-attribution of responsibility is not clear to the judge, who does not believe in such a self-incrimination, since his sharing the very idea of reliving the past in order to entertain the tourists.