A risky neighborhood of a Sicilian seaside town in the hands of crime. 

A "foreign land" and a challenge for Sonia, a young teacher on the run from the past. 

The school pupils are "explosive", as teachers say, because of their disturbed and dysfunctional behaviour. 

A violent neighbourhood, wild pupils and aggressive families: teachers face this alone and are frustrated for not being able to do much. 

Sonia is a woman in search of herself after the death of her son. On the first school day she is welcomed with an off the cuff plastic bottle stoning and Andrea, an art colleague with a past linked to crime, rushes to save her. 

In the first weeks, the boys test Sonia's limits rioting, assaulting, flinging desks into the air. More than anyone else Stefano helps her. He is an elusive man who alternates silences and escapes. Sonia is immediately struck by him, despite his contradictory behavior towards her, their clashes, escapes and returns. 

Instead, Andrea manages to establish a passionate and compassionate relationship with Sonia. However, his aggressive nature degenerates into violence when Stefano decides not to run away from her anymore. 

It will be the woman's pregnancy that will put everything at stake and they will find the way to go forward together.

Proposed by Aldo Cazzullo at the Premio Strega 2022 with the following motivation:

«I read a book by a small and therefore precious publisher: "Two hundred stormy days" by Simona Moraci (Marlin). I propose it for the quality of the writing, apt to narrate inner emotions and transformations and recast the author's experience in schools at risk.

Very well described little-known realities in border territories that drive teachers to contrast violence and oppression with affection and care. Places and people that find expressive force on the page thanks to the author's mature style. 

Equally, the novel delves into the complex feelings, which involve the protagonist and the two male figures, in search of an existential rebirth and a chance for a life change. 

All this is told in a straight narrative that makes emotional passages and dramatic moments exciting pieces of an engaging novel where irony and lightness blend with the most agonizing facts.«