Books

Sicily, August 1978. Alice is just six years old when an elegant and slightly eccentric woman shows up to her parents’ house in Polizzi. It’s aunt Irene, a family member she had never heard of before. The widow of a very wealthy man, Irene never remarried and lives in Rome, where she leads a free and unconventional life as an artist. Alice doesn’t know it yet, but this meeting will radically seal her fate.

Twelve years later it will be Irene, unexpectedly, who gives Alice the key to truly knowing herself and nurtures her lifelong dream of becoming an actress. So begins Ferzan Ozpetek’s latest work of fiction, which once again puts into words his powerful imagination, filled with autobiographical cues and evocative quotes from his films.

A fascinating house in the centre of Rome brimming with memories from the past, a door closed for far too long, a stunning art collection, a passionate and then denied love, reminiscent of a hidden heart which all of a sudden stops beating, are just some of the elements of this coming-of-age novel which is also a noir of the soul, a celebration of talent and creativity, and a discerning study of the pain of loss.

Through a surprising mixture of notes, drafts, photographs, and life stories, Irene imparts Alice with a sort of emotional education while the girl takes her first steps in the Rome of the 1990s, around the lively Campo de’ Fiori neighbourhood and the De Paolis and Cinecitta film studios, busy with acting classes and auditions, new friends, dangerous encounters, and unexpected romances. Until a revelation will change her life forever.

Following the bestselling Come un respiro, Ozpetek once again gently and empathetically explores female emotions, focusing on the hopes of two women who are closely connected despite the distances of time and space: a girl still in search of her identity and a woman who refuses to submit to fate. Overcoming every barrier, Alice and Irene will never cease speaking to one another.