Author:
Giada Messina Cuti
Publisher:
Guanda
Release Date:
10-10-2025
Dalia lives with an adoptive family she adores in a small Sicilian village overlooking the sea. But the deep love she receives from her father, Felice, and her grandmother, Brigida, is not enough to soften the coldness of her mother Franca – a stern, distant woman who disapproves of Dalia’s spirited nature, lack of refinement, and above all, her unsettling habit of dreaming up dramatic events involving everyone around her but herself. When Franca forces the family to move to Mestre, Dalia is thrown into a harsh, unfamiliar world where her already fragile sense of belonging begins to dissolve. Caught between feelings of restlessness and profound loss, she sinks into a long season of sadness and solitude. Yet just as there seems there’s no way out, someone appears in a moment that feels like fate and offers her what she’s always longed for: the chance to dream for herself and free herself of the pain she carries. However in order to do that, Dalia must return to her homeland, and to the ruins of a life that no longer exists.