La luce perfetta del giorno (The Perfect Light of Day)
This is the first novel by Elena Varvello, author of the critically acclaimed collection of short stories L’Economia delle Cose, published in 2009 by Fandango.
A novel in three parts, it tells the interconnected stories of three women and their families, taking place from the early 1970s to the present day. At the centre of the narrative is Matilde – a solid woman whose strong personality threatens to spill over the edges of her suburban existence just as her exhuberant curves are barely contained by the bright dresses she makes herself. And her friends: Anita, devoted mother of a uniquely sensitive child and Clara, whose serene outlook is rooted in her strong faith. These bonds between the three women and their families grow strong whilst remaining changeable, as they experience their own personal tragedies. Anita’s child will die in a tragic accident, Clara’s eldest daughter will mysteriously disappear, Mathilde will have to deal with betrayal and the strain on her marriage.
La luce perfetta del giorno is a moving novel that probes the broad spectrum of the human condition, caught between memory and desire, expectations and loss, secrets, guilt and redemption. As the beautifully convoluted narrative folds and unfolds in on itself, it defies chronology and draws the reader deep into the characters’ lives. Each character is given space to reflect and recount, each narrative strand adds to and reveals multiple layers of meaning to both past and future events, with seemingly mundane details gradually taking on profound meaning.