“I would like to be free and I’m not,” think Ettore and Elena, the two halves of a couple breaking up. From one chapter to another, at the heart of a crisis that is both marital and climatic, their point of view is presented to us alternately. Outside, torrential downpours pound Rome, forcing them to flee to the family cabin—he with the children, her alone, but not for much longer. “Always navigating from one feeling of guilt to another”, seized with momentary aphasia, Ettore gradually rediscovers the pleasure of belonging to his family, while Elena, who had forgotten herself for the benefit of others, reconnects with the desire, hers and the one a truffle picker places on her. Finalist for the Strega prize, this third novel by Chiara Mezzalama, her first translated into French, enjoys popular and critical success. Anchored in the air of time, After the rain confronts us with the contradictions of the world we have erected. From the clash of generations to permaculture, the Italian writer examines the field of possibilities for her characters. We love her sensual writing; we appreciate less the passages more moralizing and supported.
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