A fierce, modern novel—intense and sharp, uncompromisingly difficult. It traces the story of Maria, a forty-two-year-old woman who becomes unexpectedly pregnant, then gives birth far too early. She finds herself living in the shadow of an incubator, suspended in an undefined time between death and the life of her daughter Irene—a time in which she can do nothing but wait. Wait without clear answers from the doctors. Wait without the baby's father. Wait without an old friend's shoulder to cry on. She waits, finding solace among the other mothers in the neonatal ward, pushing back against some members of the medical staff with a resolve that others lack—mothers who come to see her as a guide and advocate. She waits while continuing to work with intelligence and realism, teaching at the evening secondary school where she persists in helping men and women earn their diplomas, giving them a second chance. She waits within Naples itself—so vivid and alive, its wild swings of mood mirroring her own, mirroring the small hospital unit—until the city becomes the only constant companion in this time of waiting, this white space after which life, whatever the outcome, will take an entirely new path.
The writer's gift lies in capturing states of mind so profound that the reader might believe she is telling her own story. Yet it belongs to other women—women into whom the reader steps, thanks to the author's remarkable skill.
Cristina Tersigni, 2008