Luigi Capuana was born in Mineo, Catania province, in 1839 and was one of the foremost protagonists of the verist movement. It was not a formal organisation, but did have literary theory at its heart. Capuana was the first to really expound the principles, which were based on the portrayal of truth or as Luigi, himself, called it ‘the poetry of the real’. 

Verism focuses on subject matter that deals with the actual struggles of people in complicated circumstances and has much in common with French naturalism, although tone and viewpoint differ. Giacinta is the novel that exemplifies Capuana’s approach.