I Barbarò: Le lagrime del prossimo. vol. 1

The story opens on a bitter January morning in mid‑19th‑century Milan, the city shrouded in a knife‑sharp fog. Young Pompeo Barbetta, barely out of his teens, wanders the bustling Piazza del Duomo after a hearty breakfast, his mind half in his parents' comforts and half in the restless urge of youth. Though his family is modest—a cook father and a once‑beautiful mother—Pompeo enjoys a pampered freedom, a glimpse of a life more refined than his surroundings suggest.

His stroll leads him to the crowded Coperto dei Figini, a low‑arched arcade pulsing with merchants, wanderers, and the sharp cries of a distressed woman and her child. A sudden commotion erupts as two police officers haul a trembling, pallid man onto the cobbles, his wife’s wails cutting through the din. Pompey watches, wary yet drawn, as the crowd swells and the atmosphere turns from everyday market chatter to a tense tableau of authority and desperation. The opening scenes weave together the city's foggy ambience, class contrasts, and a mystery that promises to test Pompeo’s loyalties and the fragile hopes of those around him.