A peak, that of the Matterhorn, waiting to be reached following a path of progressive approach not dissimilar to the path that Chiara takes putting together the pieces of her past life.
She now considers herself a “young survivor” of the events that involve her emotionally, perhaps even herself due to her rebellious character which does not leave her time to fully enjoy what she experiences. She is a journalist from Ivrea with many ideas in her head. She is cramped in that editorial office of the local newspaper La alarma, carving out a place for herself in the all too explicit line dictated by the publisher: “readers are interested in weddings, deaths, the legs of Miss Italy, the beautiful Miller who smiles from the cart of carnival”. Depressed by her past as an angry girl made of municipalities, she protests alongside the workers.
The Chiara of the past was in fact immersed in 1968 and in the subsequent tormented years. Always lived with generous enthusiasm and participation, even if recognized in retrospect as imbued with “dogmatics of power”. For this reason they are now just an often burning memory, she confesses this without hypocrisy.
The novel revolves around this figure who needs to find himself, to make peace with his soul. the relationship with her father, then the one with the new director who slowly puts her in a corner making her rediscover the unconfessed warmth of feelings. The mountains are the silent witnesses of this journey of self-awareness, in particular the Matterhorn which marks the beginning of the various chapters , an environment that ties together the threads, rediscovering forgotten affections and those yet to be discovered on its paths.
As Chiara walks, she is accompanied by the events of Italy during the Years of Lead. Piazza Fontana, the moon landing, the assassination of Aldo Moro and that of Guido Rossa, but also the wait as an unconvinced atheist for the election of Pope Luciani, for the positions of the “red bishop”, Msgr. Bettazzi: it’s a great collage of memories that needs to be made your own.
The night of the Matterhorn
by Enrico Camanni
Le Comari Publishing House
18 euros
