Missing Puzzles
by Maria Teresa De Donato
Review by Prof. Elisabetta Fioritti
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Reading this novel is equivalent to a journey through time and space.
With great descriptive ability, the author tells the story of her family, always from the point of view of her own evolution and personal growth. The study of her origins, the story of the numerous characters' fate who frame and background of the novel, constitutes the backbone of her existence's evolution. Each small episode fits perfectly into a mosaic of historical memory, building an intellectual substratum for the protagonist's choices.
The cultural and artistic stimuli received from childhood, thanks to the excellent cultural preparation of her family members, make the research done by the author possible and even stimulating to fill the leaps in memory, those missing puzzles that explain and justify the inclinations, choices, but also the shortcomings, the pain of relationships with parents. Lastly, the latter is always the crucial issue, the one to be solved, for everyone, in the course of life.
We forgive our parents nothing; we forget nothing about them because they are our mirror, the plant we come from, and a part of ourselves. Only the wisdom of age and experience can, at times, make us reconcile with their human frailty. And this happens to our protagonist, who finally welcomes within herself the great teachings she received, the tools for growth, the love of a splendid diverse family rich in artistic, cultural, and entrepreneurial talents. The study of genealogical and profound historical research that stands out among the pages suggests an answer to the eternal question of the human being about Chance, predestination, and Free will.
A beautiful autobiographical, historical novel permeated with colors, a fresco over time, a story full of love and pride for one's origins.
Congratulations to the author!
