I know what it means not to hear, to live in a hushed world where you are separated from even your loved ones.
Tommaso Avati
This novel is a family saga spanning the rise of fascism to present day. It is a story of three women – grandmother, mother, and daughter – all of whom are deaf. Rosa hails from an old, agrarian world. She learns by touch and sight and carries these senses through an uncomprehensible world. Rosa gives birth to Laura, who grows up in the big city, learning the language of the masses, mastering and commanding it. Yet, the language everyone speaks does not truly belong to her. Laura’s daughter – Francesca – speaks the common tongue and employs alternative forms of communication. But Francesca suspects these evolved languages are insufficient.
This is a novel about being deaf, about language, and the difficulties in communication. It is a book where gestures replace words, where listening require effort. It is also a novel that Tommaso Avati crafted for himself and his own hearing impairment.
“She would remember her mother forever, for as long as she lived, because her mother was deaf, like her. But she possessed a fabulous and inexplicable power: the magical capacity to hold words in her hand.”
