They are small stories. Newspapers. Those brought to life by the writer from Carpi are of ordinary “normality”. Licia Brancolini in his Stories from another day (Maglio publisher). Stories in which everyone can find themselves in a game of mirrors capable of bringing back experiences, removed pains and never forgotten loves. Stories in which it is impossible not to hear the voice of a private memory, of an emotion, echo. Licia Brancolini tells the story of the lives of non-illustrious men and women. In short, she is ours. And she does it through simple, immediate language. Powerful, as it is capable of outlining places, physical ones as well as those of the soul. A book made of chiaroscuro, as every life is, in which to immerse yourself and also rediscover corners and cities close to us, including Carpi, and dear to the author. Among these pages there are fortuitous encounters that can change one’s destiny, if only one re-learns to look, to “rediscover true beauty” and to accept the fear of change.
And then there is her, death, and its many forms, to deal with. With its load of empties. Of Solitudes. Absences that can be filled in some way if only one finds the courage not to withdraw into oneself and open up to the new. Death that is expressed in many ways but always with extreme delicacy: from the loss of a parent to the sudden loss of a friend found after a long time and too soon lost again, from that of a young life torn from her loved ones by a hit-and-run driver. to that of a child who was never born – albeit by choice of the mother – whose memory is so vibrant that it becomes flesh and blood in the beautiful story Giovanna’s choice.
Particularly evocative The woman of the river, where regret, melancholy and a stepmother nature reside. In the background the Great River, “that bastard” with a dual nature, capable of “singing his romantic song to the moon but also the bringer of misfortune”. In fact, it was the Po’s fault if “she had left… because the river was treacherous and struck treacherously, like an earthquake”. The portrait of Rosina, the woman from the river, a widow who “liked to make love”, is poignant and dramatic at the same time. And we also talk about sex The tearing of the heart, but here, there is no room for the sweetness of discovery. There is no pleasure, only fury, violence… shame and a young woman, Sara, who, overwhelmed by the anguish of seeing her guilt fall upon her, chooses the path of silence.
But neither Stories from another dayLicia Brancolini also recounts the tragic days of the flood in Romagna, the hours spent by the volunteers to shovel mud, to be moved by entire lives swept away by the fury of the water.
And between shotgun weddings, Parisian prison portraits, “children’s” holidays in Gabicce Mare where everything became shiny and possible, Licia also recalls Covid. When our lives were overwhelmed by a “sneaky enemy”. Locked up. Isolated. And in the meantime nature flourished again, regaining its space. That virus was “an ultimatum before the catastrophe?”.
After the novel Hidden truths, Licia gives us the gift of a vibrant collection of stories. A book to read calmly, story after story, letting the words flow. Slowly. Because every good story needs time to be told.
Jessica Bianchi
