Carmen Verde and the (happy) tale of unhappiness

A small bright example of debut not to be missed is that of Carmen Verde, who publishes her first novel, A minimal unhappiness, with Neri Pozza. Born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, the writer has lived in Rome for some time. The story he tells, however, does not have explicit geographical coordinates, it takes place for the most part in an asphyxiated family environment that, towards the end, shrinks more and more and only rarely has glimpses of opening: the school, the family shop, a day at the sea. Annetta, the narrator, first a child, then a girl and a young woman, with a more or less evident impairment: small in stature, bordering on dwarfism. But her suffering is not linked so much to the physical limit as to the existential condition of complete dependence on her mother, Sofia Vivier, a beautiful and enigmatic woman. But above all it is restless. Life no less than literature. We should study the unhappiness of our mothers at school. This is precisely the main occupation of Annetta, who lives a reflected life, lost in a repetitive everyday life, but endowed with an acute and amplified perception of the microcosm that surrounds her, of which she is ready to detect her gloom. For a whole month, returning from school, I continued to observe that cat, dead on the corner of the street. Every day he became more empty, inconsistent, so much so that the light – which at first struck his hair – began to pass through him. For a while it was just transparency, then just a gray nothing, in the middle of a carpet of dead leaves. And again: the drawers are small coffins that hide secrets, the sky returns to its merciless blue. Until the majestic agony of Sofia Vivier. Not a serene landscape, the one that surrounds Annetta. Yet on everything, even on the twisted family events, her love for her mother stands out crystal clear. Carmen Verde thus outlines a claustrophobic universe, but full of sensations, emotions, segments of life lived, hopes, imperceptible heartbeats and jolts of the mind. So much so that it seems crowded with things and people, also thanks to a mature and flexible language. The magic of literature.