THE NORMAN BRIDE

THE NORMAN BRIDE

Jun 7, 2025 | BOOKS

The Norman Bride by Carla Maria Russo, in the Neri Pozza edition is a reading belonging to “Monica’s books” series and I thank her.

The Norman Bride is Constance of Hauteville. 

Historical novel, partly a free interpretation The Norman Bride is a text often adopted in school settings.

Constance of Hauteville is the mother of Frederick II.

The book recounts her life with emphasis on her being a mother against all adversities: physical and political.

Carla Maria Russo paints her profile attributing her the merit of having taught her son the importance of knowing how to live while maintaining close and important contact with people.

From the author’s words emerges a profound admiration for a woman who was denied her own monastic vocation in order to ensure the continuation of the kingdom through royal offspring.

Constantine, for her, Frederick II of Swabia for history, saw the light in Jesi, in a tent set up in the central square so that everyone could witness and witness his birth and so that all women could help Constance during a birth deemed impossible.

Do you know the story of Constance of Hauteville?

What do you think about historical novels?

I enjoyed delving into many details through a double gaze: the passionate eyes of the author and the eyes of The Norman Bride.

FARAWAY

FARAWAY

Feb 8, 2025 | BOOKS, BOOKS

I would like to thank Jessica Pini and Mari’s Manual for Faraway.

Faraway. 

We often repeat that reading takes us far away, in this case, the journey already starts with the title.

You know I never anticipate what one will discover when reading, so I ask you: what does your ‘far away’ correspond to?

A place?

Or a concept, perhaps: something far away from you.

You can create distance in space, in time, in the heart, in the mind.

Johann Wolfang Goethe left us this reflection:
One never goes so far as when one doesn’t know where one is going.

Do you agree?

I often remind of Shrek and the Kingdom of Far Far Away.

Faraway

Jessica also mentions Shrek but for a different reason, I still took it as a sign, a kind of affinity.

In particular, I appreciated the passages where the book dwells on the description of the environment with the attention of someone who cares about it.

Jessica then keeps the focus on female strength, declined in the variations in which it can make a difference.

She herself describes a good book as a bridge to other worlds and a way to live more than one life at the same time.

I will leave you one of her introductions by subscribing to it:

Jessica, on the other hand, has left me waiting to find out how the story will continue: her Faraway is meant to be the first chapter of a saga.

So let’s not stray too far, let’s keep in touch 😉
#FarawaySaga

THREE by Valérie Perrin

THREE by Valérie Perrin

Jan 11, 2025 | BOOKS, MUSIC

We had already chatted about Valérie Perrin about her previous book Fresh Water for Flowers. 

I have also read Three thanks to Valeria and her Mum.

As you know, I have a bit of a fixation on three, not by chance on the idea of three sides I imagined my Heron’s formula. 

And on the concept of three this book builds a real apotheosis.

You know I don’t like to reveal too much, but I want to tell you that there was a moment while reading when I felt terribly dumb for not having understood beforehand, so much so that I would have even gone back to look for the exact point where I was so blind.

However, it is no secret that Three by Valérie Perrin tells the story of three friends.

Friendship, the kind that survives suffering, the kind that heals disappointments, the kind that bridges loneliness, but above all Friendship of the kind that comes about quite naturally, because it cannot be otherwise.

Friendship almost as predestination and deeply felt choice at the same time.

Friendship as destiny and Friendship as salvation.

Friendship that lasts a lifetime.

Do you have friends who fit this description?

Or maybe you can describe your idea of Friendship even better.

The three protagonists get to know each other and grow up going through years that I experienced at about the same age myself.

Do your childhood friendships endure stoically under the blows of life or have the paths taken inexorably different directions?

Valérie Perrin very often quotes songs and song lyrics, which as you know I particularly love.

And so I discovered Indochine, which I did not know.

Here you can find a playlist with the songs mentioned in the book.

Another key element in the book is water. 

Even with reference to water, we can find Valérie Perrin’s ‘three’: pool, sea, lake.

A further metaphor for evolution: birth, life, death.

THE CHILDREN’S TRAIN NETFLIX

THE CHILDREN’S TRAIN NETFLIX

Dec 15, 2024 | BOOKS, MOVIES, BOOKS, MOVIES

We already talked about The Children’s Train when I read Viola Ardone’s book published by Einaudi. 

But above all, we talked about The Children’s Train when I read the book Happiness trains by Giovanni Rinaldi. 

I became fond of Giovanni Rinaldi’s research work and his subsequent There was me on that train too and with words I travelled through the stories of many children, many families, many people who today still witness the beauty of solidarity through eyes that have seen the train of life run and through words that have much to teach us.

A discovery, a gift, which has brought us the privilege of the direct testimony of Americo Marino. 

Americo, not Amerigo, I am not mistaken: the real name of the man we knew as the protagonist of Einaudi or  The Children’s train Netflix, played by Christian Cervone and Stefano Accorsi is Americo. 

And if in some interviews Viola Ardone recognised Derna, Pachiochia or Maddalena as real characters, officially Americo remains a fictional character, despite the fact that significant elements such as his shoes, to name one, come from his direct testimony. 

This is why I could not miss seeing The Children’s train Netflix directed by Cristina Comencini and produced by Palomar.

The film was presented at the Rome Film Festival and has the support of the Emilia Romagna Region and Film Commission Torino Piemonte.

I sincerely hoped for a different epilogue with regard to the personal story of Americo, a person of rare sensitivity to whom I have grown fond of.

A thank you in the credits, a reference, a name, even coffee was mentioned.

How would you react if, we can say the whole world, given that The Children’s train has been translated into twenty-five languages, knew elements of your story, then declined in a different way?

Would you still be happy or would you suffer?

Have you seen The Children’s train Netflix?

If, like me, you are left with the thought of those children travelling to the unknown and how they found the affection of families who welcomed them as children, I think this video will move you, it is not fiction:

Derna and Americo from the Rinaldi Archive 

HUNTING THE BOGEYMAN

HUNTING THE BOGEYMAN

Nov 23, 2024 | BOOKS

Caccia all’uomo nero Hunting the Bogeyman published by Pav Edizioni: the latest read for which I thank the author Sabino Napolitano and Mari Manual. 

Undoubtedly a striking title: ‘the bogeyman’ is a figure we often learn about from childhood.

The first meaning that the Treccani attributes to him is exactly: imaginary man, with a frightening appearance, who is used as a threat to keep children quiet.

Have you ever heard yourself say such a phrase?

As one grows up, one learns that in reality who we have to fear is not an imaginary figure, however dark and gloomy he may be.

What could be the personification of the bogeyman in your opinion?

Sabino tells us his own through a story that starts with a disappearance.

The investigation leads to a shortlist of hypothetical suspects who could be ‘the bogeyman’ in perhaps a more literal than figurative sense.

The writing gives the reader a glimpse of reality and describes the everyday life of Bari, which could however be the everyday life of the place where each of us lives.

I appreciated the realism through which the author tells the story, leading the reader to the way in which the Bogeyman Hunt ends.

I report the book among the winners of Giallo Festival for best supporting character.

Can you tell me which character is the protagonist of your fears? 

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