I have periods when I read a lot and other times less, but especially during summer, I usually get to read many books. I have studied literature and have read many, many heavy classics, but what I prefer to read are books that are well written but entertaining at the same time. I love a good page-turner. I read mostly in English, but also in French and Danish. All of the books I have mentioned here are translated in many different languages.

Alberto Moravia “The woman of Rome” (1947)

I had never read anything by the Italian writer Moravia before and discovered this book by coincidence. It tells the story of a roman prostitute Adriana during the 1940’s, a simple girl with no fortune but her beauty.  She dreams of a traditional marriage with kids, but finds herself disappointed by the outcome of her destiny. She meets many different men, the young university student Gicaomo, Astarita, the Secret Police officer and Sonzogno, the brutal criminal.

A book easy to read but with many layers that describes the tragedy of human nature with cynicism in the amazin city that is Rome under Mussolini.

Anne Sebra « Les Parisiennes : How the women of Paris lived, loved, and died under Nazi occupation » (2016)

This book is a little bit different from the other in the way that it is an historic book that follows different female destinies during the war, this looks at the years 1939 – 1949 with the focus firmly on the female citizens of Paris. Sebba’s examination of the lives of French women (mostly focused around Parisians) gives you a fascinating close-up into the horrifying challenges they faced during the war. It is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know more about a side of the Second World War that is not often spoken about.

Its very well written, but it’s also a book with many, many information’s at the same time, and all the different stories can be a little bit hard to follow.

Leila Slimani “Lullaby” (2016)

I have read this book in the original language (French), but I am sure that the translations are just as good. This tragic thriller opens op with the ending: the nanny killed the two kids. The rest of the book tells the story of Myriam, a mother and brilliant French-Moroccan lawyer, that decides to return to work, and she and her husband are forced to look for a caretaker for their two young children. They are thrilled to find Louise: the perfect nanny right from the start.

An excellent book that won the biggest literary price in France and not without reason.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/the-killer-nanny-novel-that-conquered-france

I have always been a fan of classic brands that does not go out of style. I would rather invest in good classical pieces than items that are in fashion for a short amount of time.

I think that a pair of classic brogues is a most have in both women and men’s closet. Many brands make these kind of shoes, but my favorite brogues are those produced by the English brand Church’s shoes.

Church’s shoes is a British shoe brand founded 1873 by Thomas Church and his three sons and has since become a well-known international brand.

The shoes are handcrafted and the quality of the shoe are easy to see. These are shoes that last. Famous people like Pierce Brosnan in James Bond can be seen wearing Church’s shoes, but also Mr Bean and even Tony Blair. It’s first and foremost a men’s brand, but as a woman I also find their range very nice. I like this mix of masculine and feminine, and I love to wear my Church’s shoes with everything from dresses to pants.

I think that Church’s shoes are best when they stick to their classical British shapes and when they don’t try to be modern. The Prada group purchased the brand and since they have tried to “modernize” the brand. Personally, I don’t think it was needed, but as I look through their webshop, their focus is still on the British heritage shoe.

Pictures from: http://www.church-footwear.com

Last week I went to see Tom Volfs documentary Maria by Callas from 2017 about the famous soprano opera singer Maria Callas.

The documentary is a combination of footage of her singing, interviews and restauration of archival clips from the 40’s until the 70’s.  The documentary focuses on telling Callas’ story “in her own words”. This means that the documentary doesn’t have a traditional narrative voice but leaves all the talking to Maria Callas, either through old interview footage or the American mezzosopran Joyce DiDonato’s reading of Callas’ old letters. The movie follows her up’s and down’s, both in her opera career but also in her love life.

Maria Callas was born 1923 in New York by Greek parents and died 16 September 1977 in her Paris apartment. She made her opera debut in Greece in 1941, but later had her real breakthrough in 1949 when she performed in Venice.  When she was very young, she married a much older Italian man Giovanni Battista Meneghini, but later fell in love with famous Aristoteles Onassis, a romance that took a torn when he married Jackie Kennedy instead. A devastated Callas withdrew from public life.

Maria Callas was not per definition an unusual woman (a talented opera singer, yes), but that is what makes her so captivating. Her emotions are those of many women, the struggle between wanting to have a calm family life, have a career, make money and be successful. Many could envy her career, the travel and the somewhat fancy life she had between the most beautiful capitals in the world, but in fact, she seemed to be a very lonely woman.

It was said that she continued to rehearse in her Paris apartment in the hope of one day returning to the stage. And in a way, this movie made sure she did.  The documentary beautifully puts forward the extraordinary career of a great singer full of melancholy and elegance,  and I was fascinated by the old restoration of old footage from Paris, Rome, New York, … and of course by the captivating singing of Callas.

The melancholic emotions of a woman who sacrificed everything to the music stayed with me even after the movie ended.

Elena Ferrante and her books

I have read many books throughout the years, from the heavy classics to the lighter page-turners, and I know exactly what I like to read. For me a good book should be both interesting, well written, light and heavy at the same time. Literature should be something enriching for both the soul, the heart and the brain. I love a well-written page-turner. The Italian writer Elena Ferrante writes those books.

I have read many foreign writers, both for some reason not a lot of Italian writers, but since reading Elena Ferrante I have become increasingly interested in the country and it’s culture. Elena Ferrante is an interesting figure, she (if she is a she) has decided to stay anonymous, she has said that her person and her books should be and stay to separate things and that you don’t need to know a writer for you to enjoy a book. Unfortunately, her wish to stay unknown is also the press wish to unravel that secret. Ferrante has since stated that she would not produce any more books if “they” (the publishing firm) decide to reveal her identity.

But to get back to her books, the most famous ones are the Neapolitan Novels. The four book series that tells the becoming of age story of two girls Elena and Lila growing up in Naples, from the 50’s to today. It’s a story of girls becoming women, but also about a city that is, in my sense, the principal character of the book. Naples is violent, hard, poor but also extremely fascinating. The books are extremely well written, there is everything from love to politics. After reading the books, you feel like you have lived their lives, you travel through Italy’s story and you grow up with them. These books are truly the most realistic and gripping books, I have read in a long time. And have you already read the four books, I can also recommend Ferrante’s other books. The themes of the female struggle, Naples, family are recurrent.

The Neapolitan Novels:

1. L’Amica genitale – My Brilliant Friend
2. Storia del nuovo cognome – The Story of a New Name
3. Storia di chi fugge e di chi resta – Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
4. Storia della bambina perduta – Story of the Lost Child.

Naples in the 1950’s

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