Esperia Viola was born in 1942 the eldest of six daughters each conceived when their father was home on leave, each named by him in letters containing only a single word. Now Esperina, as she is known, has dementia and her daughter – our narrator – visits her regularly hoping to fill the widening chasms in her mother’s memory by telling her the story of her life. Esperina was born in a remote area of the Apennines, marrying her cousin after special dispensation from the Pope. It’s a place caught up in superstition where babies were still swaddled well into the twentieth century and witches kept away from the cradle. Her life has been hard – working the land all hours, cooking, keeping the house in order, responding to the many demands of her extended family – leaving her little time for a loving relationship with her daughter who resents it bitterly. As Esperina’s story unfolds that relationship begins to change.
Our narrator intersperses vivid vignettes from her mother’s life with her own memories, reflections, dreams and nightmares. Vibrant scenes – the annual slaughter of the family pig; Esperina’s wedding feast; her sister’s disfiguration – are made all the more immediate by Di Pietrantonio’s use of the second person, addressing her mother as ‘you’ in her narrative. The pain of the relationship between mother and daughter is poignantly conveyed: ‘I was still planning to settle my score with her when she escaped from me into her illness’ declares the daughter, then later ‘I have to go and see her every two or three days. I can’t bear longer separations. I’m scared I might lose her.’ As a young mother Esperina barely touched her child yet now finds excuses to reach out to her daughter, tenderly stroking her sleeve ostensibly to comment on the quality of its material. Di Pietrantonio’s language is some times formal, often poetic: there are some gorgeous descriptions of food and its preparation. It’s a moving, beautifully expressed novel, and good to see the translator’s name on the jacket. So often that’s not the case but without Franca Scurti Simpson there would be no My Mother is a River for us monolinguals to read which would be a shame.
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Great review Susan… echo ALL you’ve said. Beautiful read and an accomplished debut from Di Pietrantonio’s for Calisi Press’s first publication.
Thanks, Poppy. I thought she captured the conflicted feelings of her narrator so well.
Excellent review as always, Susan. It sounds like a very poignant story, beautifully written. Calisi Press is new to me, so I’ll take a look at their website.
Thanks, Jacqui. This is their very first book and the publisher is also the translator so I suspect it’s a one woman and a dog operation! I imagine this means that whatever they publish they’ll be passionate about so I hope for more good things in the future.
This sounds wonderful. My knowledge of Italian women writers is woefully meagre (I haven’t jumped on the Elena Ferrante bandwagon yet), but one I did enjoy recently was Hollow Heart by Viola Di Grado. It’s always heartening when great stories can reach us in translation.
Oh, I’ll look out for that. Thanks, Rebecca – and for what it’s worth I though this was better than the Ferrante I read.
I feel exactly the same way you do about small presses! I long to help them, and yet not all of their books appeal by any means. So glad this one was a winner – I am a sucker for mother/daughter stories.
Yes, it’s a lovely read and Franca has confirmed that it’s just her, not even a dog!
As someone who looked after her mother during her final years I think this might hit too many personal notes. However, it sounds as though the author has really caught the dilemma of many women who find themselves in that position.
I think this one may be best avoided for you, Alex. I was most impressed by the way the relationship was sensitively, but very directly, handled
I spotted Calisi Press on twitter and was keeping a eye out for their first book. I’m glad you’re able to report you enjoyed it!
I was relieved, particularly as it turns out that it really is a one woman operation. Highly recommended!