The summer version of ‘Fuori gli Autori’, the permanent exhibition organized by the ‘la Magna Capitana’ library of Foggia and the Ubik bookshop continues on Monday 1 July at 6.30 pm with Lorenza Gentile who will present her latest novel, ‘Tutto il bello che ci expecta ‘ in the courtyard of the Natural History Museum of Foggia. Free entry, subject to availability. Followed, as always, by the ritual signing of copies.
‘All the beauty that awaits us’ (Feltrinelli, 2024). We live in an era where nothing is impossible, so if things don’t work out it must be our fault: Selene is almost convinced of this. After thirty, she still hasn’t found her way: where did she go wrong? Was it the last of her impulsive actions, opening a restaurant that is now on the verge of bankruptcy, or did it happen fifteen years ago, when she made her first decision as an adult? Is that where her aspirations got caught? To find out, one summer night she runs away from Milan to a small village in the heart of Puglia, the place where she grew up, immersed in a spiritual community, surrounded by the affection of friends and family.
The valley is always the same, dotted with olive trees and trulli, with the sea lining the horizon. Too bad that, just before arriving at their destination, the car engine breaks down and from then on nothing goes right. And yet, sometimes it is the unexpected that changes our lives for the better. While waiting for spare parts, Amanda is given to her, a red Uno full of personality with which she will try to reach the ashram where she lived as a child.
And if not everyone remained still waiting for her, within a short time Selene hugs the old nanny Flora again, meets new people and decides to take care of a little donkey named Virgilio, who seems to feel as alone as she does. Between trips to Salento, discussions on the meaning of life, yoga and afternoons in the kitchen with people who perhaps know her better than she knows herself, Selene begins to understand that sometimes it is necessary to get lost and take the wrong path to find the courage to follow your own dreams.
