Ocean of Senses
Review by Elisabetta Fioritti, Author, Painter
Ocean of Senses is a story of love
and strength, told from the point of view of a courageous and sensitive woman,
born in the 1940s in Tripoli, Libya, a former Italian colony. The pages of this
novel effectively describe a time that was of emigration and hope for our
families in search of a future. In this fascinating country with warm and
mellow colors, Claudia grows up, finding her dimension in the beauty of the
places, between lush date palms and the white sand of the coast, lapped by the
Mediterranean Sea, sometimes beaten by the Ghibli, the sirocco wind that blows
from the hinterland, spreading scents and suggestions. This country, which her
grandparents reached after leaving Sicily, the land of their forefathers, seeps
profoundly inside of her, shaping her generous, extroverted, passionate, and at
the same time romantic personality. Later life and some disappointments will
lead her to dilute her spontaneous ways, but deep inside Claudia will always remain
a strong and resourceful woman, never losing her sweetness and hope in the
future.
The subsequent historical events, the 1969 coup d’état with the seizure of power by Colonel Gaddafi, changed the fate of her family, bringing Claudia to Perugia, in Umbria. Here is her chance for a new life, love, even the physical and sensual one, the fullness of her existence. Ocean of Senses is the story of a life lived to its fullest, where spirit and matter are joined and in love they find their answer. As the title states, life is an ocean that overwhelms, with its emotions, a gush of sensations and feelings and true love has in itself a strong physical connotation, of a union of bodies, as well as of souls. According to the author, life must be lived in harmony, without sparing oneself, as Claudia will do, despite the pain, abandonment, and suffering. A book that makes us love life, which opens us to hope and trust in the future. A must-read!
