Missing
Puzzles
Autobiographical-Historical-Genealogical Novel
by
Maria Teresa De Donato
Review
by Professor Mila Nardelli
There is no living being that does not come into being with the greatest and most powerful of its assets: the genetic one. From birth to the final stage of existence, we are already characterized by our DNA which, like a wonderful backup software, is handed down from generation to generation, before being influenced by the surrounding environment that determines the identity of each of us.
In her autobiographical-historical-genealogical short story Missing Puzzles, Maria Teresa De Donato deals with the fascinating theme of descendants and everything related to her roots, stimulating the reader's ability to better understand the importance of individual identity and she does it, as always, by tackling the topics at 360°. Maria Teresa is an intellectually curious author, fascinated by research and history, who has been able to search, with painstaking and surprising accuracy, her "Hidden Treasure", both in the maze of her mind, through her memories, and through the sources available to her. Starting from her family she has tried to reconstruct not only her history and that of her loved ones, but also to give the reader genealogical and historical information of times many look at with a certain nostalgia and charm, while others, especially the new generations often don't know at all. She has managed to go back centuries, from the time of the barbarian invasions to today, traveling in the Middle Ages and focusing above all on the XVIII and XIX centuries, accurately reporting all the major events that have characterized Europe throughout history, with special reference to the Swabian house from which her paternal branch originates, the probable Greek origins of her maternal branch and the effects that the First and Second World Wars had on her family, beginning with her mother and father.
The author tells us about this treasure hunt, a treasure made not of gold coins, jewels, and precious stones, but of something far more invaluable: the past from which it comes. The purpose of her research is not simply to fill her novel with names, dates and events, Maria Teresa experiences incredible emotions, rejoices and suffers with her ancestors, because they have sent her something, because their blood flows in her veins, revealing "that part of the concept of self", which derives from its awareness of belonging to one or more social groups, associated with the value and emotional meaning linked to this belonging. For Maria Teresa, the concept of identity is an intertwining of individual and social aspects, relationships, knowledge, and emotions that accompany the experience of her person. Our roots, our ancestors, remind us of who we are and what is our path, without roots, without the knowledge of our ancestors, we are lost and without direction ... without a past, there is no future. We are all the result of the union of the genes of our biological parents and with the parents we also share a whole series of other aspects, deriving, for example, from their cultures.
Maria Teresa reminds us that actually we are not born only from the union of two individuals, but also from the union of families, of worlds, which can also be quite different from each other, but which in some way belong to us. Our sense of belonging is among the most basic components of our identity, as well as those that seem to have little value to us, because perhaps we think they concern only a distant ancestor, or those that we do not consider because, for thousands of reasons, they are difficult to accept. Our origins, the history of our family, are like the roots of a tree: they are fundamental, they support us and nourish our identity. This is why it is important to know and pass them on, together with the pride of owning them. The cultural aspects of identity in the short story Missing Puzzles pass through numerous channels: stories, traditions, places, work, documents, photographs, wars, and often is the very family history what keeps all these elements alive.
A search, that of Maria Teresa, made with deep respect, humility, and gratitude, which not only has broadened the roots and made the foliage of her family tree thicker, but has given a deeper meaning to her existence, making it richer, more satisfying and lived with a more profound awareness.
I would like to conclude this review with a phrase by Marco Pierre White: "A tree without roots is just a piece of wood."
Mila Nardelli
