Books

My name is Pietro Gerber, but everyone in my native city of Florence knows me as the child whisperer. Like my father before me, I’m a hypnotist, and I help children work through their trauma and overcome fears and phobias. It might not seem like it, but my profession is dangerous. Children’s minds are labyrinths where it’s easy to get lost without being able to come back.

Maybe this is what’s happening to Matias. He’s nine years old and for a long time he’s been having the same recurring dream. Now Matias is afraid to fall asleep, worried that he’ll get a visit from someone who shouldn’t exist. A sad-looking woman who’s always dressed in black and never speaks. The silent woman inhabits Matias’ dreams as a spectre does, like a disturbing presence spilling over into reality. It shouldn’t be anything more than a dream, but then…

Then why do I have a feeling that the silent woman is real? Why do I hear the buzz of an enormous swarm of insects overcoming the silence? Why do I sense that even my empty and lonely house is now haunted by ghosts?

What if the silent woman’ story is yet to be written… just like mine? My name is Pietro Gerber, I am the child whisperer, and suddenly, I’m afraid of sleeping. And yet, I’m even more afraid of being awake.