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Liliana si è lasciata ogni cosa alle spalle: la famiglia, gli amici, gli errori. Per anni, ha condotto un’esistenza tranquilla in Inghilterra. Eppure basta un titolo letto per caso su un giornale per mandare tutto in frantumi. Abramo Cattaneo – oppositore del regime di Gheddafi – è stato vittima di un attentato a Roma e adesso è in ospedale, in condizioni critiche. Liliana è certa che quell’uomo sia il figlio di suo fratello Stefano. All’improvviso si rende conto che questa potrebbe essere l’ultima occasione di affrontare un passato da cui fugge da troppo tempo. Come spinta da una forza invisibile, Liliana parte per l’Italia.
Quando sbarca a Tripoli, appena diciottenne, Liliana Cattaneo vive il suo nuovo inizio col cuore carico di gioia. È il 1929 e lei non vede l’ora di riabbracciare Stefano, che ha preferito l’esilio alla tessera del partito fascista. Lì, in Tripolitania, la morsa del regime è meno opprimente. La gente sembra più amichevole, l’atmosfera più liberale, le possibilità infinite. Ma l’apparenza inganna. Ben presto, Liliana dovrà fare i conti con una realtà più complessa delle storie di conquista e civilizzazione che ha sentito in patria. Sotto la superficie di quella città incantevole, Liliana trova un mondo ambiguo, che ribolle di violenza e inganno. Un mondo corrotto e brutale, in cui la sua ingenuità e la sua fame d'amore sono debolezze imperdonabili, e in cui un passo falso può costarle molto caro…
Con maestria e sensibilità, la penna di Virginia Baily ci guida lungo un viaggio di perdita e di speranza, in cui una pagina dimenticata della nostra Storia s’intreccia con le vicende familiari di una donna tanto fragile quanto coraggiosa. Una donna che alla fine avrà la forza di perdonarsi e di ritrovare ciò che aveva perso ma mai scordato: casa.
- ISBN: 8842931578
- Casa Editrice: Nord
- Pagine: 396
Recensioni
She looked and she started to see, but she pushed the seeing back down, out of her own sight I found this a wildly uneven book: it opens vividly as 18 year old Liliana arrives in Tripoli in 1929 to stay with her brother who has been forced to leave Italy for not being a member of Mussolini's Fasc
Parted by politics. “They change their sky, not their soul, who rush across the sea.” Horace. Virginia Baily tells an intimate family story to explore the impact of totalitarianism in Italy in the late 1920s and early 30s. Liliana is a good Catholic girl brought up by a strict mother and a weak father Leggi tutto
1 1/2 stars. This book isn't worth reading. The plot is predictable, the characters stale, the antagonist is a one dimensional caricature with absolutely zero other traits than being a psychopathic misogynist. He was barely above the level of a plot device. His name was Ugo for God sake, you might as Leggi tutto
Taking place in Italian colonised Libya, we follow Liliana on her journey to the Italian Fourth Shore. There is so much that happens in this book and I was intrigued the entire time. This book spans decades and follows Liliana through all the different phases of her life. An international event happ Leggi tutto
My 21st book of October - what a month it has been for me. I'm chuffed. This was a bookclub book, chosen by another member. My rating doesn't really reflect the novel, but my own tastes. It's essentially as if someone came up to me and asked me if I wanted to try their cheese and I told them, "I don Leggi tutto
A wonderful novel, sensitively written. The skilfully woven story flows between different eras of the last century, but is mainly focused on Italy's fascist ambitions in Libya, and the effect on the lives of one family, and on the female protagonist especially, who we come to know both as a young wo Leggi tutto
Secrets stop you from knowing yourself properly, from being the whole of yourself. . This historical novel follows Liliana from fascist Italy in the late 20's to the Italian colony of Libya and from London in the 80's to Rome. It's partly a coming of age tale, partly a mystery story of suppressed memo Leggi tutto
As with Early One Morning she uses flashback from a near contemporary present to the 1920s and 30s to good effect to narrate a dark and not fully acknowledged moment of recent Italian history. However, although the story is obviously different, the narrative structure is perhaps a little too similar Leggi tutto
I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group, and the author Virginia Baily. I am a big fan of historical fiction, and I really enjoyed this novel. I had a little to no knowledge of Italy's occupation of Libya, and was fascinated t Leggi tutto
This novel is for an intelligent reader who is committed to doing some of the work. The story and the skilful juxtaposition of characters, time and place are intriguing - added to which the undercurrent and historical/political backdrop add depth as back stories interweave and unravel. It says much
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