Pratolini's novel “The Tale of the Poor Lovers” brought its author widespread popularity. The writer shows the everyday life of residents of one of the working-class neighborhoods of Florence - the tiny Via del Corno - during the difficult and terrible times of the unbridled fascist terror of 1925-1926. In grief and joy, in the feelings and actions of poor people who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, a living and beautiful image of the people, a rich and multifaceted national character appears, combining human dignity, courage and kindness, loyalty to age-old moral traditions, perseverance and optimism . Via del Corno becomes, as it were, a collective hero, in which, of course, there are also shadow sides generated by ignorance and poverty. Living on Via del Corno are the rich, depraved old woman Signora, who despises working people, and the fascist thugs Carlino and Osvaldo, and the vile coal merchant Nesi. But the living force of the nation is the working people who do not accept fascism for its immoral principles of violence, deception, demagoguery and betrayal.