Never The Wind by Francesco Dimitri

-


GENRE - GOTHIC FANTASY
FIRST PUBLISHED - JUNE 2022
PUBLISHED BY - TITAN BOOKS
THEMES - FAMILY. BLINDNESS. ITALY. FRIENDSHIP. LOVE. COMING OF AGE. SUPERNATURAL.
READING TIME - APPROX 9 HOURS 30 MINUTES
PURCHASED FROM - WATERSTONES

PLOT -
The plot follows Luca Saracino, a teenager who is adjusting to becoming sightless, during his move to southern Italy with his family. His parents begin working on turning his deceased grandfather's old farmhouse into a hotel. Whilst they are occupied with their mission, Luca meets his new neighbour, Ada Guadalupi, and develops a close friendship with her. He discovers a troubled history between their families, and encounters 'the wanderer', whose hauntings, along with mysterious whispering winds, lead him deeper into dark and hidden truths. 

MY REFLECTIONS - 
Oliver K. Langmead calls this novel 'A sensory treat', which I completely agree with, since it left my senses exhilarated by the extraordinary experiences of the teen-aged and blind protagonist, Luca. Dimitri's descriptions of what life possibly feels like to a sightless person sensitively and poetically provokes our perceptions. The afterword informs us he did his research too, which I admire and respect. I particularly love this sentence from page 14 of my copy - To the sighted, space is a container of things, such as trees and houses and people; to me, space is movement, a dance of things reaching to me with their sound while I reach out to them with my limbs and my cane. Stunning. It's the kind of writing that makes me fall in love with literature all over again. 

A unique read, dark and elegant, it is a ghost story threaded with the beauty and difficulties of coming of age, and exceptional accounts of learning to live with blindness. The skips in time give a contrast between Luca's life with sight and without it, which provides us with awareness of his emotional world. Added to Ada's descriptions of the physical world and their budding relationship, I found this bittersweet and very moving throughout. 

The ending had me riveted. It's very strong. So often I am left feeling underwhelmed by endings, but not this time. I am inspired to get to grips with more Dimitri - this is the first book of his I have had the pleasure of reading.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Person Is A Prayer by Ammar Kalia

-
Image
  GENRE  Literary fiction FIRST PUBLISHED May 2024 ARC RECEIVED FROM Oldcastle Books THEMES Life. Death. Parenthood. Family. Culture.  READING TIME Approximately 6 hours PLOT The book begins with an arranged marriage between Bedi and Sushma, who we follow into their future together and learn what has become of the hopes and dreams they had when they first met. The story goes further into the future, following the lives of their children, and their hopes and dreams. Their  thoughts and feelings about themselves and about life, echo those of their parent's and there are apparent ripples and repetitions of family history.  MY REFLECTIONS Oh this book. It is beautiful and I love it. I urge you to read it. I will do my best to express what an absolute masterpiece of a debut novel this is. This is a moving novel that conveys how beautiful, fragile and bittersweet life is, and about how our choices and actions influence our own lives and the lives of others. It is a se...
Read more

The Party by Tessa Hadley

-
Image
GENRE - Coming of age, historical fiction, novella. FIRST PUBLISHED - 31/10/2024 PUBLISHED BY -  Jonathan Cape, London THEMES -  Coming of age, status, post-war Britain, social class, society, relationships, parents, romance, parties, youth, marriage, patriarchy, male vs female. PLOT -  The setting is post-war Bristol. It's winter time, and sisters, Moira and Evelyn go to a party at a dockside pub where they meet the equally sophisticated and irritating, Paul and Sinden. Sinden later invites them to Paul's mansion which he shares with his brother and sister. Evelyn is reluctant but agrees to go for Moira, who is eager to show off her design work and make an impression. The party ends in an unexpected way for the sisters and they leave a little differently to how they arrived. MY REFLECTIONS -  This is the kind of book that may feel as if nothing much is happening plot wise, however,  emotionally, psychologically, a lot is going on. Fans of Virginia Woolf's writi...
Read more

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

-
Image
GENRE - Children's fiction (9-11 years), adventure, fantasy.  FIRST PUBLISHED - 1961 PUBLISHED BY - Alfred A Knopf (Our version published in 2016 by Puffin Books) THEMES - Friendship. Magic. Adventure. Child neglect/abuse. Bereavement/parent loss. Isolation. Acceptance. Travel.  PLOT - At four years old, James lost his parents, who were eaten by a rhinoceros that escaped from London zoo. An orphan, he goes to live with his horrid aunts who keep James a prisoner in their house, making him do chore after chore. They do not allow him to go anywhere, not even to school. James is sad and lonely.  One day, after three years of living with his aunts, something magical happens and James is filled with hope. A giant peach begins to grow in the garden, and inside it live giant bugs, who are ready to escape with James, far away from his mean aunties. James begins a magical adventure of friendship, wonderous discoveries and dangers he must use bravery and creativity to champion....
Read more