The new novel by Marco Erba, a teacher in a Lombard high school and an established writer, who in other books has already tackled the themes of education, youth hardship and the relationship between generations, will arrive in bookstores tomorrow, May 7th. Marco Erba therefore returns with a novel, published by Rizzoli, a story that talks about relationships and possession, of educational examples, of pain that becomes anger and leads to bullying and homophobia, “but also about friendship – he explains -, the real one, that helps us overcome everything.” Another central theme is that of foster care, dear to the author who lives this experience firsthand, as a foster parent. “The evil you have inside” is the title of the volume with which the “prof” from Cernusco sul Naviglio addresses children but also adults, educators and parents: in fact, the theme of the relationship between adolescents and adults is strong in the story and of what it means to be an educator, “or rather, a life coach”. “In the book – says the author – there are several examples of educators, some negative, who base their actions on force, imposition and authoritarianism, others positive, who focus on the relationship with the children, on dialogue and on ‘authoritativeness: a very different modality”.
(ME photo)
“Bullying, homophobia and prejudice are just some of the consequences that this internal evil can trigger – explains Erba (in the picture) –. But the novel also talks about how this evil can be defeated thanks to the encounter and discovery of others. This comparison, in fact, leads us to see no longer the differences, but what unites us, the things we have in common.” The story of Cristian, Eli, Mare and Mike also talks about love, “what it really means to love and be friends. As we have seen from many recent news events, unfortunately, this is not always clear to everyone, but love, real love, is always freedom and never possession, control, violence.”
This time the author tries his hand at a novel with a detective story: a person disappears during a Halloween night, others look for him and want to bring to light the truth and reveal the mystery. The lives of the protagonists revolve around this: “Eli, who is beautiful and envied by everyone, but in reality very fragile; Mare, who is engaged to her and controls her in an increasingly obsessive way; Cristian, Eli’s childhood friend, who is introverted and feels safe only on his bicycle, but outside of cycling he is constantly prey to Mare’s harassment. Then there is Mike, Cristian’s coach, who fights for injustices and for his right to be himself. All the characters in the novel live in the contrast between being and appearing, between showing themselves as they are and the fear of judgement, between fragility and courage”.
Marco Erba will present the book on Friday 17 May in Vimercate, at the Libreria il Gabbiano as part of the book festival, Thursday 23 May at 9pm in Sesto San Giovanni as part of an exhibition organized by the Municipality, Tuesday 28 May, again at 9pm , in Cernusco sul Naviglio.
