The Day of the Owl

The Day of the Owl (Italian: Il giorno della civetta [il ˈdʒorno della tʃiˈvetta]) is a crime novel about the Sicilian Mafia by Leonardo Sciascia, finished in 1960 and published in 1961 by Einaudi.

The novel is renowned as "the first fictional work for a mainstream readership to openly call the Mafia a criminal organization, one pervading Sicily and thriving on the silent collusion of its citizens who claim to see and hear nothing, even when someone is gunned down before their eyes."

As the author wrote in his preface of the 1972 Italian edition, the novel was written at a time in which the existence of the Mafia itself was debated and often denied. Its publishing led to widespread debate and to renewed awareness of the phenomenon. The novel was an instant success, bringing Sciascia fame and authority. The novel received the Crotone Prize, a prominent Italian literary award, in 1962.

The novel is inspired by the assassination of Accursio Miraglia, a communist trade unionist, in Sciacca in January 1947. Damiano Damiani directed a movie adaptation in 1968.

As with all of Sciascia’s crime novels, The Day of the Owl is not a straightforward whodunit, whydunit, or howdunit, but rather a tense clash between the forces of good and evil, with an uncertain outcome that could tip in either direction. Sciascia used this story as refutation against the Mafia and the corruption, apparent to his eyes, that led all the way to Rome.

The Carabinieri major Renato Candida, posted in Agrigento from 1955-1957, served as the inspiration for Sciascia in his portrayal of Captain Bellodi. The two became good friends.