The Story
Anna is 6 years old when her father dies. His death opens an abyss within her, one that continues to unsettle her life fifteen years later. When she realises she never truly knew him, she sets out to trace his footsteps in Italie, where he was born and spent part of his life. She draws close to all the people who left their mark on him — friends, family — and wanders through the Italian cities he once inhabited, until she learns with dread that her father was in fact a heroin addict, which most likely caused his early death. She must now strip her father of the hero's costume she had dressed him in. Even the sound of the night has changed reads like an investigation seeking to confront the imaginary father with the real one, and to restore to this passionately romantic man the density of a father within reach of his daughter. The writing, and the long time taken to unfold the visible and hidden layers of a life and a relationship, make it a magnificent novel about a father and his daughter.
Description
Anna is 6 years old when her father dies. His death opens an abyss within her, one that continues to unsettle her life fifteen years later. When she realises she never truly knew him, she sets out to trace his footsteps in Italie, where he was born and spent part of his life. She draws close to all the people who left their mark on him — friends, family — and wanders through the Italian cities he once inhabited, until she learns with dread that her father was in fact a heroin addict, which most likely caused his early death. She must now strip her father of the hero's costume she had dressed him in. Even the sound of the night has changed reads like an investigation seeking to confront the imaginary father with the real one, and to restore to this passionately romantic man the density of a father within reach of his daughter. The writing, and the long time taken to unfold the visible and hidden layers of a life and a relationship, make it a magnificent novel about a father and his daughter.
