Review of book
Our author, Susanna Tamaro, is born in Trieste, Italy 1957. Coming out from from a family of famous Italian writer Italo Svevo, Susanna itself is growing up by obtaining teaching diploma which helped her to receive scholarship at Italian school of cinema.
At the age of 30, Susanna started writing her own short stories which some of them were rejected to be published. But she didn't give up.
Some of most noticeable stories Susanna wrote:
- For Solo Voice
- Follow Your Heart
- Listen to My Voice
- The head in the Clouds
In this book, Susanna is putting us in shoes of Olga. senior woman, to be precisely in her eighties. She is living alone in her house in Trieste since all relatives she knew, starting from her husband, daughter and granddaughter, are not with her anymore. Some of them found peace and quiet on "other world" while her granddaughter went to America.
And this is the breaking point of the book.
Olga felt that her life was interpreted wrong in the eyes of her granddaughter, she was looking for forgiveness and peace, something that was bothering her whole her life, and she didn't have chance to tell the story to anyone. Letters she was writing to her granddaughter were confessions of her life, her mistakes, childhood, husbands, and deaths of loved ones and difficult relationship with her daughter Ilaria.
To understand Olga more, we have to look back into her letters (life) she left behind her.
Olga was coming from very strict family, which was situated back in 1930s, where women were meant to be home, to oblige husbands and make children, didn't have much rights in society and were afraid that they don't make their husband look bad outside of the house.
Her mother was very strict with Olga, she didn't allow her to express herself very much, most of the time she was teaching Olga that priority is to stick with society, not to express herself too much, something Olga couldn't understand as she was alive child, with mind of her own.
Father was very appreciated in the society and, although he was very busy, he tried to understand Olga needs for becoming something that society couldn't handle. He wasn't supporting her but he also didn't stand in her way.
Considering that years were passing, most of the girls Olga was friends with were married and it was time for her to do the same. Even her mother was suggesting that it was her purpose and that there are guys who might be interested in her. But Olga was mind of her own, didn't really bothered to be someone's "slave".
Her father was getting older and he couldn't maintain his company so he decided to sell it.
He was owner of the coffee imports and he decided to sell his company to Avgusto, businessman from town next to theirs.
Avgusto noticed Olga quiet quickly and, even if Olga was very annoyed by Avgusto and his habbits, decided to give him a chance, they got married but...
It wasn't what she wanted. Marriage turned out to be very dull, with no chance, again, for Olga to express herself. Society was one that was affecting her so much that she was "hiding" behind four walls and her soul start dying slowly.
Her husband had interest in all types of insects and was obsessed about new spices he would find, but he didn't have enough time to spend with Olga.
Olga, beside wishes about baby, minding the house, didn't have any other interests, or at least, she wasn't allowed to be what she wanted to be.
Father recommends her to go for a small trip, something that would relax her, something that would bring back the energy she used to possess before she got married.
On the trip Olga met Ernesto, a man she found everything with, but she couldn't be with him as he was, like Olga, married. Even if they were hiding their relationship, from one of the trips, she strayed pregnant. On the way back to Avgusto, she decided to hide it as it was the best for both worlds.
After some time, she admitted that she is pregnant, and after nine months she gave birth to Ilaria, daughter Olga wanted for so long.
Olga spent lots of time with her, watching her growing, smiling, being something that every mother wants.
But suddenly Ernesto dies and Olga ends up becoming depressed, completely forgetting about Ilaria who was only four years old. That took big hit on her daughter as she became distant, cold, not interested in anything in the world.
Avugsto got sick by the age Ilaria was 14, and not so long after he died. But his last words were said in hospital, next to window while rain was pouring down: Ilaria has different hands... and no one in family had hands like that.
Olga took that hit very hard as she wasn't aware that Avgusto, for so many years, knew that Ilaria wasnt his daughter.
Trying to explain how Olga life was before, Ilaria and her get into argument where Olga, in anger, admits that Ilaria is not Avugsto daughter. In anger, Ilaria left the house and same night died in car accident, like her birth father Ernesto.
The only thing Olga have left are her memories about life that wasn't hers, about her mistakes she did, where in one sentence she destroyed 3 life, her daughters, hers and her granddaughter.
After so many years she decided to look for forgiveness through letters, as some said – paper takes everything and says no secrets.
All she want for her granddaughters is not to make same mistake as she did, and that when the time is right and everything falls into a place, to follow her heart
