Silvestro Ferrauto, a Sicilian typesetter living in Milan, is overcome by inexplicable feelings of despair.

Prompted by a letter revealing his father's abandonment of his mother, Ferrauto decides impulsively to return to Sicily, a place he left at the age of 15.

The novel concludes with a poignant scene where Ferrauto's father weeps in the kitchen, while his mother tenderly tends to him by washing his feet.

The action of the book is less important than the emotional agony of its hero, brought on by his constant consciousness of fascism, war, and the plight of his brothers.

Recognizing the novel’s power, the fascist government censored its serialization in Letteratura in 1936–38 and even withdrew an entire issue of that periodical from circulation.