Opis:
A wonderful debut that reminds one of Elena Ferrante and Donna Tartt.
A family that tries to mend a deep tear, that over the years experiences the delicate balance of affections.
A novel about forgetfulness, about the pain that almost suffocates the possibility of existing. A story about being parents and being children; about care and love that go beyond loss.
Rome, mid 50′. The Balestrieri family has owned a grocery store near Via Merulana for generations. Their existence flows quietly until their second daughter, Marisa, cracks the perfect picture. She remains pregnant with her boyfriend, who suddenly and unexpectedly leaves her. Her parents then decide to give her to their young apprentice, Stelvio, and what was meant to be just a loveless arranged marriage, will instead become a relationship full of love and complicity.
In the eighties, Stelvio and Marisa Ansaldo are truly satisfied: their business is going well, they love each other deeply, their eldest son is a concert pianist who travels the world, and their daughter, Betta, is a lively and dynamic sixteen.
The family spends their summer holidays in Torre Domizia with their grandmother and granddaughter Miriam, daughter of Emma, and sister of Marisa.
Betta and Miriam are the same age but that’s about all they have in common, just like their mothers they couldn’t be more different. But nonetheless, they spend their first day of vacation together, enjoying their company and catching up. At night the two girls decide to sneak away from home to reach a bonfire by sea.
Unfortunately, they never get there: they are assaulted and raped by a group of boys. Betta dies there, in the sand, from an asthma attack, crushed by the weight of her aggressors. Miriam survives but, deeply affected by the trauma, reveals nothing of what happened.
Betta’s body is found the next morning and right there, her family loses its center. The loss drives the Ansaldo couple further and further away, leaving behind only the memory of the couple they once were.
In the background, the investigation of Betta’s murder stagnates, slowed down by prejudices and omissions.
Miriam, abandoned to herself, is overwhelmed by the consequences of her secret. Only meeting with Leo, a young man from Rome, will change the fate of her story.
Despite mourning, once again, in the history of this family, love and sincere relationships help bring the truth to light and strengthen the deepest bonds.
The characters, finally exposing their fragility, are able to question themselves on the value of hope and on the meaning of faith in front of a pain that seemed to have eradicated all certainty.