“Di spalle a questo mondo”: the embodied language of Wanda Marasco

From the pages to listening. I decided not only to read but also to listen to the words written by Wanda Marasco and read with immense professionalism and passion by Anita Zagaria.

And that is precisely what this book does: it draws you in and nestles inside you, guiding you through language that is both precise—because it talks about history, medicine, and men who lived their profession to the point of losing touch with reality—and at the same time lyrical like poetry, delicate like the human soul.

–Ferdinando Palasciano, a man of medicine in Naples in the second half of the 19th century, a precursor of the Red Cross and of the medical profession that goes beyond any political color or social class.

A man who loves his profession immeasurably, but who knows how to lock away his fragility in the tower of his ideas and his life (the tower that overlooks all of Naples).

A fragility that unites him with the love of his life, Olga, who has always been fragile because she limps, because she knows illness, because she knows delirium, because she knows that there is no escape from death. Together they will face difficulties

Delirium, illness, hardship, life in an asylum, faced and described through the chorus of love that surrounds the protagonists.

From Naples, which envelops them with its difficult times, described as a large and unique backdrop to the familiar characters, Ferdinando’s colleagues, the characters who gravitate around them as if to remind Ferdinando and Olga of the immense fortune of having found each other, to the friendships of the asylum.

𝙐𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙯𝙤 𝙘𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙣 𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙤, 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙡 𝙢𝙞𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙨𝙪 𝙙𝙪𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙯𝙯𝙚: 𝙡𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙩à 𝙙𝙞 𝙖𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙞, 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙞, 𝙘𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙡𝙩𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚 𝙡𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙩à 𝙖𝙞 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞 𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙧𝙞 𝙘𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙖 𝙤𝙡𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙨𝙞 𝙘 𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞 𝙖.

I loved everything about this novel from start to finish and I invite you to read it.

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗼

𝗗𝗶 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼

𝗡𝗲𝗿𝗶 𝗣𝗼𝘇𝘇𝗮 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱