| At last, 4 weeks later than expected, I have read Nada´s third book. It is in part autobiographical much in the same way as her second book, that is to say, mixing reality and fiction. Poetry in prose and philosophical contributions are always present in Nada´s writings and so in this book too, a beautiful and lovely way of expression which captivates the reader from the beginning.
She develops the plot through three characters, three ladies who have responded bravely in the face of adversity and cruelty. Gemma in the book is Nada herself and she talks about her life after her debut as a singer and continues until she dies a bit over 100 years old, 30 years after she joined the other two characters, Elke and Emilia, in la grande casa. She shares with us very painful details of her life, mainly in the 70s, as well as the joy and happiness of finding an everlasting love and giving birth to a baby. As we all know she overcame all difficulties in those terrible years, but it hurts me that she had to suffer so much at such an early age.
Gemma, after losing her closest relatives, finds calmness and peace first in a convent high up in a mountain and finally in la grande casa. To give an idea of what la Grande Casa is, nothing better than this quotation found on page 88: "Io credo che con le immagini che ho preso all´antica fornace, e che sono qui in questa vecchia macchina fotografica, si possa intuire un linguaggio, un linguaggio che può essere letto solo dall´anima, da certe anime, e proprio per questo io credo, io so, sono certa che loro arriveranno, attratte da queste visioni, e saranno delle persone speciali, persone che hanno bisogno di vivere la loro solitudine dell´anima, ma...ancora alla ricerca per vivere della grandiosità interiore che è creatività..."
High contents and beautifully expressed -so are Nada´s writings. Utopic vision, one may say but worth thinking, not in vain we have spiritual needs to satisfy.
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