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L’ultima traversata

B1Travel and adventure≈470 words

A disrupted journey leaves two travellers looking for another way home.

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Travel and adventure

Due visitatori cercano un ritorno possibile dopo aver perso il traghetto.

Original short story written for this approximate editorial level.

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Racconti politici

Antonio Ghislanzoni

B2–C1History

These political stories follow people whose private lives become caught up in Italy's struggles for national independence.

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History · Comedy

These political stories follow people whose private lives become caught up in Italy's struggles for national independence. Volunteers, revolutionaries, and their families confront enthusiasm, duty, and disappointment, as Ghislanzoni combines sympathy and satire to examine the human motives behind public causes.

Political satire and social dialogue need awareness of period references and irony.

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Ghislanzoni, Antonio — Racconti politici. Complete seven-story collection with author’s introduction and notes; modern transcriber note and duplicate contents omitted. Source acknowledgement: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48576. Cover: Project Gutenberg source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.

Racconti

Francesco Dall'Ongaro

B2–C1Friendship and family

Ghostly legends, provincial rivalries, family troubles, and acts of kindness fill Dall'Ongaro's varied collection of stories.

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Friendship and family

Ghostly legends, provincial rivalries, family troubles, and acts of kindness fill Dall'Ongaro's varied collection of stories. Set among communities with strong local identities, the tales mix humor and sympathy with darker events, exploring how prejudice, desire, and circumstance shape the lives of ordinary people.

Short narrative scenes use formal reflection, older words, and indirect emotional implications.

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Dall'Ongaro, Francesco — Racconti. Complete collection of 14 stories with author’s 1869 A chi legge and original proems/postscript; duplicate contents omitted. Source acknowledgement: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57883. Cover: Project Gutenberg source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.

Novelle

Cesare Balbo

B2–C1Friendship and family

A schoolmaster's storytelling frames tales of love, family conflict, courage, and misfortune across different places and periods.

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Friendship and family · History

A schoolmaster's storytelling frames tales of love, family conflict, courage, and misfortune across different places and periods. Balbo's collection brings together intimate dramas and historical adventures, inviting listeners and readers to consider how character and circumstance shape decisions whose consequences reach beyond the individual.

Concrete narrated events alternate with older forms and reflective commentary.

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Balbo, Cesare, conte — Novelle. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39658. Original edition notices retained. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html Cover: Project Gutenberg source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.

La Carrozza di tutti

Edmondo De Amicis

B2–C1Friendship and family

Riding Turin's trams through the months of a year, the narrator observes passengers whose lives briefly meet in the same carriage.

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Friendship and family · Travel and adventure

Riding Turin's trams through the months of a year, the narrator observes passengers whose lives briefly meet in the same carriage. Comic incidents, conversations, and moments of hardship turn public transport into a portrait of the city, its social divisions, and its everyday humanity.

Everyday travel observation includes period terms, idiomatic turns, and extended clauses.

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La carità del prossimo

Vittorio Bersezio

B2–C1Friendship and family

The painter Antonio Vanardi struggles to support his family while holding onto his artistic hopes and generous instincts.

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Friendship and family

The painter Antonio Vanardi struggles to support his family while holding onto his artistic hopes and generous instincts. Encounters with friends, patrons, and supposed benefactors expose the distance between real compassion and self-serving charity, in a social novel about poverty, dignity, and dependence.

Everyday dialogue and family scenes mix older wording with detailed social observation.

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Romanzo d'una signorina per bene

Anna Vertua Gentile

B2–C1Romance

Lucia grows toward adulthood amid family changes, new friendships, and her first serious hopes for love.

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Romance · Friendship and family

Lucia grows toward adulthood amid family changes, new friendships, and her first serious hopes for love. Her father's remarriage and encounters with people less fortunate than herself test her judgment, in a story about affection, social expectations, and learning to meet disappointment with generosity.

Social scenes mix indirect inner speech, detailed descriptions, and older expressions.

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Vertua Gentile, Anna — Romanzo d'una signorina per bene. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22507. Original edition notices retained. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Novelle e paesi valdostani

Giuseppe Giacosa

B2–C1Nature

Mountain guides, hunters, villagers, and travelers populate these stories and sketches of the Aosta Valley.

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Nature · Travel and adventure · History

Mountain guides, hunters, villagers, and travelers populate these stories and sketches of the Aosta Valley. Giacosa combines local adventures with memories of journeys and observations of alpine life, creating a varied portrait of its people, livelihoods, landscapes, and the tensions between visitors and residents.

Travel scenes use regional and historical vocabulary alongside extended description.

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Giacosa, Giuseppe — Novelle e paesi valdostani. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36165. Original edition notices retained. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html Cover: Project Gutenberg source edition; original source cover retained unchanged.

La testa della vipera

Vittorio Bersezio

B2–C1Mystery

Raised amid gambling, neglect, and deceit, Emilio Lograve learns to turn other people's trust to his advantage.

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Mystery · Friendship and family

Raised amid gambling, neglect, and deceit, Emilio Lograve learns to turn other people's trust to his advantage. His ambitions draw friends and loved ones into increasingly dangerous schemes, in a social drama about jealousy, manipulation, and the harm concealed beneath persuasive appearances.

Clear events alternate with older wording and elaborate psychological descriptions.

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Olocausto

Alfredo Oriani

B2–C1Friendship and family

Young Tina grows up in a world where poverty leaves vulnerable people exposed to exploitation and cruelty.

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Friendship and family

Young Tina grows up in a world where poverty leaves vulnerable people exposed to exploitation and cruelty. Her struggle for affection and safety unfolds through harsh encounters and fragile bonds, in a dark social novel about suffering, compassion, and the value denied to the powerless.

Concrete scenes mix colloquial speech with precise descriptive and older narrative vocabulary.

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I demagoghi O, I misteri di Livorno

Cesare Monteverde

B2–C1History

In Livorno, young people from different backgrounds become entangled in romances, family secrets, and clandestine political schemes.

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History · Friendship and family

In Livorno, young people from different backgrounds become entangled in romances, family secrets, and clandestine political schemes. Alfredo, Rosina, Esmeralda, and their companions must navigate loyalties that are difficult to trust, as private desires collide with ambitious plans and the city's hidden dangers.

Concrete conflicts alternate with extended narration, older forms, and social implications.

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Monteverde, Cesare — I demagoghi O, I misteri di Livorno. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22026. Original edition notices retained. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Full license: https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Riconciliazione

Tommasina Guidi

B2–C1Friendship and family

Young Paolina's devotion to her fiancé is shadowed by jealousy and fear that another woman will draw his attention away.

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Friendship and family · Comedy

Young Paolina's devotion to her fiancé is shadowed by jealousy and fear that another woman will draw his attention away. Marriage brings new strains rather than easy certainty, as misunderstandings, pride, and differing expectations test the couple's ability to find understanding and reconciliation.

Dialogue provides clear cues, with formal phrasing and ironic social commentary.

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