Barbara
D’Acierno

Francesca, the eldest daughter of a couple living in the mountains of Campania, was born covered in black hair, like a wolf cub. She spent her early childhood in a house from which all the mirrors had been removed, but coming into contact with other children became inevitable when she started school. Hurt by the cruelty of others but drawing strength from her own resources and keen intelligence, Francesca arms herself against the world as she grows up: always dressed in black, in a turtleneck and long sleeves, she faces the challenges of secondary school – set against the exhibitionist, hedonistic backdrop of the ‘paninari’ era – with tenacity and ingenuity. She goes to study in Rome and, in the bustling city of the 1990s, amidst discoveries, connections and heartache, she forges her own new family. A coming-of-age novel that at times seems timeless yet is underpinned by major real-life events – the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the first Italian Pride in Rome in 1994. Francesca suffers and grows, charts her own course in the world, chooses the heroes who suit her best – Lady Oscar, Freddy Mercury, Luxuria – and sets out resolutely in search of her freedom.