The well-known author of Marino, Roberto Pallocca, returns to the bookstore with a new novel, The defenseless balancepublished by Graus Editore on 24 April 2024.
After the last publication, in the midst of Covid, with this, the seventh of his artistic journey, Roberto will return to dialogue with his audience of readers: a tormented, passionate, at times almost dreamlike story.
The splendid cover image, created by the graphic designer Antonio Galati, is emblematic of the content of what seems like a love story, but which, in reality, proposes very different themes: two boys, Roberto (yes, the protagonist is a namesake of author!) and Anna, walk in the balance on a red thread that will bring them together, but on which they will never be in perfect balance. In the novel we will understand very well why.
The beginning is dazzling. It’s Friday afternoon, Florence station. She runs at breakneck speed. He holds the door of the departing train, to let her board. She goes up, hugs him, whispers: “you saved my life”. We are stunned by this sentence. The life? Why? Where is Anna headed that is so important?
During the journey to Rome, she is silent and reserved, wearing red clown noses for fun and filling a sheet of notebook drawing an enormous labyrinth. A delicate but overwhelming love is born between the two.
Roberto is an awkward and insecure ghost-writer who writes other people’s stories. Anna studies psychology to cure madmen with words, she appears in Roberto’s life every Friday and disappears on Sunday morning. She is elusive, mysterious, taciturn, but her life falls upon her in a beautiful way and Roberto, who for the first time is someone’s choice, begins to tell it all about her in a book.
One evening, however, Anna has a violent and inexplicable crisis, runs away and becomes unavailable for days. What is she hiding? Who is she really? And why did she disappear into thin air? What perfect imbalances do the people we love hide?
Roberto, who is unable to forgive or forget, comes into contact with Anna’s family and friends and learns a series of terrible facts: omissions and lies, pain and renunciation, hopes and revenge.
What remains, even of the most passionate, most beautiful, most overwhelming love, without the truth? What if what we love madly was just a lie told well?
Roberto and Anna’s is a story of failed balances, of mistakes, of madness and of how much love is needed to try to heal oneself.
The defenseless balance will be the protagonist of a couple of presentations in Marino in May, before starting a small tour of events in the Castelli Romani. Take note!
The first presentation will be Saturday 11 May, at 6pmat Art and Culture Workshop, in via Carlo Levi, 16 in Santa Maria delle Mole. In conversation with the author, the journalist Eleonora Persichetti. The readings will be by Giuliano Calandra and the choreography inspired by the book by Giulia Ortenzi. Followed by a final toast and signing of copies.
For those who can’t, the following Saturday, the 18 is always at 18is replicated from Bibliopop, in via Ugo Bassi, also in Santa Maria delle Mole. This time the novel will be presented by the literary critic Marco Onofrio, with whom the author will discuss the numerous themes proposed by the text, and the readings will be by Elisa Pellegrini. This will be followed by signing copies and presenting the book trailer of the book.
The novel is available in all digital stores and in bookstores.
