The Sicilians call Etna ’a muntagna, with a mix of awe and familiarity – the same sentiment Nadia Terranova, as a Sicilian from Messina, feels every time she returns to those parts. The book tells the tale of a short trip in November made on board the Circumetnea, the railway line that circles the volcano. Together with her travelling companions, the writer evokes Franco Battiato, whom she elects as the volcano’s guardian, superimposing past and present in her recollections, returning to a place that is familiar but at the same time distant, in search of the spirit of Etna. Stefano Graziani’s photographs delve into the anthropology of places and people, restoring the power of a natural setting in which humans are largely relegated to the role of spectators.