Comrade Natalia
“Coming of age” is the term used to refer to a literary genre that narrates the transition to adulthood and La compagna Natalia by Antonia Spaliviero, published by Sellerio, is a prime example of it. “This is the first novel she hadn't published”, says the book jacket after the biography of the author, a leading figure in contemporary theatre, that also considers her project focused on “theatre outside the theatre: from schools to factories”. Her writing clearly shows this as, while reading the story of the friendship and experiences of Natalia and her best friend, in a technical institute located in the industrial district of Turin at the end of the 1960s, figures and environments take shape just as in a relentless performance, where just a few meaningful words, a gesture, a hint to the setting are enough to “show” the events unfolding and understand the characters' nature – just as in a play. The school and the workers' houses, the friendships and the first awkward romances, the parish church and the events organised by the l’Unità communist newspaper, the sneering interpretation of D'Annunzio's rhetorics and the discovery of the Beat Generation thanks to a teacher who encourages them to read Jack Kerouac and listen to Bob Dylan, the ruggedness of social relationships and the revelation of sorrow when a schoolmate dies. To grow up means to leave scraps of emotions along the road while preserving the memories. Stories helps us live.
La compagna Natalia (Comrade Natalia)
Antonia Spaliviero,
Sellerio, 2022