Borderline is a book from a small independent publisher, Il Ciliegio—an autobiography by a debut author writing under the pseudonym Veronica. At first glance, you might assume it's just another account of a weighty subject, a heavy emotional drama. Read the opening pages, and you'll think differently.
The author writes with passion yet discipline, in a way that doesn't feel like the work of someone publishing for the first time. That's precisely what makes this novel so gripping and unexpected: it's dense with the intimate feelings of a woman and a mother navigating daily life with a daughter who is profoundly different and withdrawn.
"Borderline" is a broad term. It describes a personality "at the edge"—someone whose behavior swings between psychological and physical extremes—but the spectrum of these behaviors is wide and varied.
From emotional withdrawal to running away from home, Sara puts her mother through moments of crisis where only one feeling surfaces: helplessness. The pain and guilt of not understanding your own daughter, of never quite knowing the right thing to do. It would be easy to blame childhood difficulties on poor parenting. This book quietly suggests otherwise.
Matteo Cinti, 2014