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Casa Rossa.
Casa Rossa, the home of the Strada family, is a magnificent farmhouse standing amidst the olive groves of Puglia. The house is being sold and Alina, the daughter entrusted with packing up, is piecing together the fragments of her family's past. Her grandmother, Renee, a beautiful Tunisian pied noir, muse and model to Alina's painter grandfather, left him for a woman and fled to Germany. Her mother Alba marries a melancholic screenwriter, who dies in mysterious circumstances. And then there is her sister Isabella, once her best friend, who becomes a stranger, caught up in a bitter fight for a dangerous ideology. The sisters' love for each other is always precarious, and in time shifts to a betrayal of which they can never speak. A haunting story of what happens when family secrets collide with history, Casa Rossa moves from the duplicity of Italy's role in the 1930s to the dark years of Red Brigade terrorism in the seventies.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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513 people want to read
About the author
Francesca Marciano
20 books277 followersFrancesca Marciano is an Italian novelist and a screen writer. She has lived in New York and in Kenya for many years. To date she has written three novels and two collections of short stories : “Rules of the Wild”, listed as one of the NYT notable books of the year, ”Casa Rossa”, “The End of Manners”, “The Other Language” shortlisted for the Story Prize in 2014 and "Animal Spirit". She’s currently living in Rome.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
September 24, 2014
This is not a story about what we know, nor about what we have.
This story is about what gets lost on the way.
Francesca Marciano’s Casa Rossa, published in 2002, returned me to the world of the Classic novel, where sweeping, important, astonishing stories are told without stylistic pretense. Casa Rossa crosses many literary borders: it is a political novel with elements of historical fiction; it is a contemporary narrative about relationships and families; it is a novel of place. At its heart, however, it is a work of romanticism. No, no, I don’t mean romance fiction; I mean true literary romanticism: a narrative that values the aesthetic experience of life and the deep emotions it elicits—the belief that we are intuitive, deeply-feeling creatures enthralled with the beauty and horror of the world, before we are rational ones, trying to parse circumstance into logical meaning.
The horrible, beautiful world in which Marciano places us is Italy. What country presents the reader with a greater feast of imagination, with more tantalizing colors, tastes, aromas, than Italy? We think we know this country of sun-dappled fields, earthy wines, and warm hospitality, yet how quickly we forget Italy’s desperate, convoluted, violent past, one that continues to shape its present. And that short memory of how the political becomes personal is the deepest, most pervading theme of Casa Rossa, this story of “what gets lost along the way.”
At the novel’s opening, Alina Strada is packing up all that remains inside her family’s home—the novel’s eponymous Casa Rossa—set outside a small village in Puglia, the deep, southern heel of Italy's long boot. But instead of tidying, Alina's task releases memories, stories, and questions of her family’s, and Italy’s, past.
Casa Rossa takes us through three generations of women: Alina’s grandmother Renée, her mother Alba, and Alina and her sister, Isabella. Betrayal defines Alina's family: Renée’s alleged Nazi sympathies when she abandons her family to join her German lover; Alba’s emotional perfidy with Alina’s beloved father, Oliviero, who dies in mysterious circumstances; Isabella’s political treachery and the surprising double-cross by her lover; and the story’s ultimate betrayal by one sister of another.
Along the way, we see the birth of a modern nation in Italy’s self-conscious but determined turning away from WWII-era fascism toward the ubiquitous evocation of La Dolce Vita. Marciano, a filmmaker and screenwriter, takes us inside the world of Italian cinema as neorealism fades in the 1950s and Commedia all'italiana rises—a unique perspective that adds fragrance and flavor to the story’s heavy drama.
This is an Italy I know very little of—this 1970s and 80s turbulence when young people took to the streets and to back alleys, joining political organizations as a way to force the government to admit to its lies. These young revolutionaries destroyed paradigms and structures; they also destroyed families and sacrificed lives.
There is an intensity and a bravery to Marciano’s female characters that I adore. These women see the world very clearly, without sentimentality, but not without a certain wistfulness and poignancy. I felt that quality so strongly in her 2014 short story collection, The Other Language. Here, in a full-length novel where characters have room to reveal the full nature of their hearts, their pettiness, their flaws, and their dreams, I celebrate the completeness—this combination of vulnerability and power—of Marciano’s women. She writes just as her characters see their world: with the eyes of a journalist and the heart of storyteller, in unsparing, clean, and beautiful language.
What begins as a quiet, contemplative novel of regret and remembrance becomes a taut political and family drama that will break your heart. And quietly, beside a crumbling stone wall in an olive grove, where the heat stills the rustling leaves and sweat trickles between your breasts, you will find that even when broken, your heart beats still.
This story is about what gets lost on the way.
Francesca Marciano’s Casa Rossa, published in 2002, returned me to the world of the Classic novel, where sweeping, important, astonishing stories are told without stylistic pretense. Casa Rossa crosses many literary borders: it is a political novel with elements of historical fiction; it is a contemporary narrative about relationships and families; it is a novel of place. At its heart, however, it is a work of romanticism. No, no, I don’t mean romance fiction; I mean true literary romanticism: a narrative that values the aesthetic experience of life and the deep emotions it elicits—the belief that we are intuitive, deeply-feeling creatures enthralled with the beauty and horror of the world, before we are rational ones, trying to parse circumstance into logical meaning.
The horrible, beautiful world in which Marciano places us is Italy. What country presents the reader with a greater feast of imagination, with more tantalizing colors, tastes, aromas, than Italy? We think we know this country of sun-dappled fields, earthy wines, and warm hospitality, yet how quickly we forget Italy’s desperate, convoluted, violent past, one that continues to shape its present. And that short memory of how the political becomes personal is the deepest, most pervading theme of Casa Rossa, this story of “what gets lost along the way.”
At the novel’s opening, Alina Strada is packing up all that remains inside her family’s home—the novel’s eponymous Casa Rossa—set outside a small village in Puglia, the deep, southern heel of Italy's long boot. But instead of tidying, Alina's task releases memories, stories, and questions of her family’s, and Italy’s, past.
Casa Rossa takes us through three generations of women: Alina’s grandmother Renée, her mother Alba, and Alina and her sister, Isabella. Betrayal defines Alina's family: Renée’s alleged Nazi sympathies when she abandons her family to join her German lover; Alba’s emotional perfidy with Alina’s beloved father, Oliviero, who dies in mysterious circumstances; Isabella’s political treachery and the surprising double-cross by her lover; and the story’s ultimate betrayal by one sister of another.
Along the way, we see the birth of a modern nation in Italy’s self-conscious but determined turning away from WWII-era fascism toward the ubiquitous evocation of La Dolce Vita. Marciano, a filmmaker and screenwriter, takes us inside the world of Italian cinema as neorealism fades in the 1950s and Commedia all'italiana rises—a unique perspective that adds fragrance and flavor to the story’s heavy drama.
This is an Italy I know very little of—this 1970s and 80s turbulence when young people took to the streets and to back alleys, joining political organizations as a way to force the government to admit to its lies. These young revolutionaries destroyed paradigms and structures; they also destroyed families and sacrificed lives.
There is an intensity and a bravery to Marciano’s female characters that I adore. These women see the world very clearly, without sentimentality, but not without a certain wistfulness and poignancy. I felt that quality so strongly in her 2014 short story collection, The Other Language. Here, in a full-length novel where characters have room to reveal the full nature of their hearts, their pettiness, their flaws, and their dreams, I celebrate the completeness—this combination of vulnerability and power—of Marciano’s women. She writes just as her characters see their world: with the eyes of a journalist and the heart of storyteller, in unsparing, clean, and beautiful language.
What begins as a quiet, contemplative novel of regret and remembrance becomes a taut political and family drama that will break your heart. And quietly, beside a crumbling stone wall in an olive grove, where the heat stills the rustling leaves and sweat trickles between your breasts, you will find that even when broken, your heart beats still.
July 3, 2021
” ..quando meno te l’aspetti, la verità viene a galla e, a quel punto, tutte le impalcature che ci hai costruito sopra crollano in un colpo solo.”
“Casa Rossa” è una masseria che il nonno di Alina – voce narrante- compra negli anni ’30.
Mentre svuota i cassetti e gli armadi di questa casa, ormai prossima alla vendita, Alina racconta e, come è facile intuire, questo è l'espediente che apre le porte al ricordo.
Il nonno Lorenzo era un pittore che da Parigi portò non solo l’esperienza bohémienne ma anche Renée, la moglie tunisina avvolta da un passato misterioso e di cui, poi (dopo aver abbandonato il marito e la figlia Alba), si perdono le tracce .
Dal magico paesaggio della campagna salentina, alla frizzante Roma per poi passare all’avventurosa esperienza newyorchese.
La storia di questa famiglia declina la femminile:
dalla figura fantasmatica di Renèe, che lascia dietro di sé profonde cicatrici, e lascia un'eredità amara fatta di abbandoni e silenzi che saranno un marchio indelebile per tutte le protagoniste.
” Qualcosa è passato di mano in mano da una donna all’altra, nella mia famiglia.
Non so quale nome dargli.
È un segreto, un lascito di cui è bene non si parli. Qualcosa che ci pesa.
È stato proprio quel peso a storpiarci lentamente, l’una dopo l’altra, come il fil di ferro torce il fusto di una pianta.”
Una storia di assenze, silenzi, mancanze e tradimenti che dagli anni ’30 agli anni ’90 si riflette nella Storia pubblica del nostro paese.
Un arco che si tende dal fascismo agli anni di piombo:
” Questa storia qui non è più la storia della tua famiglia. Questa storia ci riguarda tutti, è la nostra. È la storia di una generazione che ha fatto finta di nulla, ha chiuso gli occhi e si è svegliata quando è passato tutto, come se il fascismo fosse stato un sogno, capisci, il sogno di qualcun altro, però. È la storia di tutti quelli che hanno detto: io non c’entravo niente, erano gli altri.”
Sono molto appagata da questa lettura.
Quella soddisfazione di leggere con piacere e con curiosità e non è così scontato.
--------------------------
Francesca Marciano arriva dal mondo del cinema. Da giovane ha recitato in "Pasqualino Settebellezze" di Lina Wertmuller e in altri film di Pupi Avati. Ha avuto esperienze di regia ma è con la scrittura cinematografica che si è realizzata.
Sue le sceneggiature di "Turné" (1991) e "Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato" (1994) a "Io non ho paura" (2003) e "La bestia nel cuore" (2005).
"Casa rossa" ha vinto il Premio Rapallo Carige per la donna scrittrice 2003 ed io mi meraviglio che non abbia ricevuto più attenzioni dalle lettrici e dai lettori...
https://archivio.festivaletteratura.i...
“Casa Rossa” è una masseria che il nonno di Alina – voce narrante- compra negli anni ’30.
Mentre svuota i cassetti e gli armadi di questa casa, ormai prossima alla vendita, Alina racconta e, come è facile intuire, questo è l'espediente che apre le porte al ricordo.
Il nonno Lorenzo era un pittore che da Parigi portò non solo l’esperienza bohémienne ma anche Renée, la moglie tunisina avvolta da un passato misterioso e di cui, poi (dopo aver abbandonato il marito e la figlia Alba), si perdono le tracce .
Dal magico paesaggio della campagna salentina, alla frizzante Roma per poi passare all’avventurosa esperienza newyorchese.
La storia di questa famiglia declina la femminile:
dalla figura fantasmatica di Renèe, che lascia dietro di sé profonde cicatrici, e lascia un'eredità amara fatta di abbandoni e silenzi che saranno un marchio indelebile per tutte le protagoniste.
” Qualcosa è passato di mano in mano da una donna all’altra, nella mia famiglia.
Non so quale nome dargli.
È un segreto, un lascito di cui è bene non si parli. Qualcosa che ci pesa.
È stato proprio quel peso a storpiarci lentamente, l’una dopo l’altra, come il fil di ferro torce il fusto di una pianta.”
Una storia di assenze, silenzi, mancanze e tradimenti che dagli anni ’30 agli anni ’90 si riflette nella Storia pubblica del nostro paese.
Un arco che si tende dal fascismo agli anni di piombo:
” Questa storia qui non è più la storia della tua famiglia. Questa storia ci riguarda tutti, è la nostra. È la storia di una generazione che ha fatto finta di nulla, ha chiuso gli occhi e si è svegliata quando è passato tutto, come se il fascismo fosse stato un sogno, capisci, il sogno di qualcun altro, però. È la storia di tutti quelli che hanno detto: io non c’entravo niente, erano gli altri.”
Sono molto appagata da questa lettura.
Quella soddisfazione di leggere con piacere e con curiosità e non è così scontato.
--------------------------
Francesca Marciano arriva dal mondo del cinema. Da giovane ha recitato in "Pasqualino Settebellezze" di Lina Wertmuller e in altri film di Pupi Avati. Ha avuto esperienze di regia ma è con la scrittura cinematografica che si è realizzata.
Sue le sceneggiature di "Turné" (1991) e "Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato" (1994) a "Io non ho paura" (2003) e "La bestia nel cuore" (2005).
"Casa rossa" ha vinto il Premio Rapallo Carige per la donna scrittrice 2003 ed io mi meraviglio che non abbia ricevuto più attenzioni dalle lettrici e dai lettori...
https://archivio.festivaletteratura.i...
June 2, 2014
After reading a novel like this and others I have read this year, for example, the Goldfinch, I do not understand why there should even be any debate about the death of the novel. Based on my reading experience novels and novelists are alive and and healthy, apparently doing quite well in the old art of story telling.
Ms Maricano writes about a particularly interesting part of the world, southern Italy, namely Puglia near Lecce and Rome, and a particular time in history which is that period in which Italy became fascistic and afterward experienced the birth of the republic and the horrible years of the Red Brigades.
This is one of those fascinating looks at three generations of a family that was strongly affected by all these currents of history. On a more intimate level it is about three women, the grandmother, her daughter Alba, and Alba's two girls Isabella and Alina. The youngest daughter is the voice in the novel, and a most interesting voice it is, a voice of a girl who becomes a woman through dealing with all the family pathology of three generations as well as her own particular period of coming of age.
I found the book a fascinating read. Although Italian is not my first language (actually it can be read in English as the author actually wrote the book in English first but found that she had to change the Italian version as the first one was so much influenced by the english language) , I found the book to be one of those that I could hardly put down as the character development and plot development are well done, so true to life..
The grandmother, Renee, is only written about, never a character but who appears throughout the book in the form of a mural painted on the garden wall of the Casa Rossa (The Red House), the family home in Puglia. Even though the mural was painted over by the grandfather's second wife, the faint image remains and appears more clearly on the last page of the novel. Her daughter Alba, beautiful, seemingly uninvolved with her two daughters throughout emerges as a life force and a fascinating character as she grows and develops. I will leave it to the reader to find out what happened to the daughters, one of whom is the storyteller.
It was a book which I never wanted to end and missed the characters and the storyteller, Alina, a lot the next day.
Ms Maricano writes about a particularly interesting part of the world, southern Italy, namely Puglia near Lecce and Rome, and a particular time in history which is that period in which Italy became fascistic and afterward experienced the birth of the republic and the horrible years of the Red Brigades.
This is one of those fascinating looks at three generations of a family that was strongly affected by all these currents of history. On a more intimate level it is about three women, the grandmother, her daughter Alba, and Alba's two girls Isabella and Alina. The youngest daughter is the voice in the novel, and a most interesting voice it is, a voice of a girl who becomes a woman through dealing with all the family pathology of three generations as well as her own particular period of coming of age.
I found the book a fascinating read. Although Italian is not my first language (actually it can be read in English as the author actually wrote the book in English first but found that she had to change the Italian version as the first one was so much influenced by the english language) , I found the book to be one of those that I could hardly put down as the character development and plot development are well done, so true to life..
The grandmother, Renee, is only written about, never a character but who appears throughout the book in the form of a mural painted on the garden wall of the Casa Rossa (The Red House), the family home in Puglia. Even though the mural was painted over by the grandfather's second wife, the faint image remains and appears more clearly on the last page of the novel. Her daughter Alba, beautiful, seemingly uninvolved with her two daughters throughout emerges as a life force and a fascinating character as she grows and develops. I will leave it to the reader to find out what happened to the daughters, one of whom is the storyteller.
It was a book which I never wanted to end and missed the characters and the storyteller, Alina, a lot the next day.
May 13, 2015
I'm not sure if it was because I lack sufficient knowledge on politics in Italy or if it was the cool and reserved tone, but I never felt fully engaged with this novel. I wanted to care about Alina and Isa and Alba because I sensed that I should, but mostly this just left me feeling restless and agitated.
February 10, 2008
I want to write at her caliber one day.
September 8, 2025
“Love sometimes makes people ruthless in a way that not even hatred can.”
I chose Casa Rossa as my vacation/beach read because I like picking up novels set where I’m going. I enjoy inter-generational family sagas, and I wanted to read an Italian novel… but there was something about certain turns of phrase and the flow of the writing that made me stop mid-chapter and dig a little to find what I thought was an interesting tidbit: Marciano, a born and bred Italian, wrote the first draft in English, translating it into her native Italian (which it was then originally published in) when she worked on the second draft.
Casa Rossa, a farmhouse in Puglia that has been owned by the Strada family for some sixty years, is being sold. Three generations of Strada women lived in it—to some it was a refuge, to others a prison. As Alina Strada packs it up, she reflects on her family’s past, beginning with the grandmother she never knew, Renée: A strikingly beautiful Tunisian woman, she was the wife, muse, and model for Lorenzo, Alina’s painter grandfather, until she abandoned him and her daughter Alba and fled to Nazi Germany, never to be heard from again. Alba, Alina’s mother, grows up to marry a screenwriter and relocates to Rome to raise their family, until her husband’s mysterious death. And finally, we get to the intense conflict between Alba's daughters, Alina and Isabella—once best friends and confidants, they grow up and apart as one gets involved first in drugs and then the New York art scene, and the other in the violent far-left, anti-fascist movement of the 70's. Set between Puglia, Rome, and New York, Italy’s history in the latter half of the 20th century is examined through the microcosm of the Strada family: From Italy’s duplicity during WWII, to the economic miracle and the political terrorism of the Years of Lead that followed, family secrets collide with history.
“There is something that has been handed down from woman to woman in my family. I don't know how to call it. A secret, an unspoken legacy—it needs to remain concealed, it's something to be ashamed of. Its burden has shaped each of us, has twisted us into what we are today, as vines are slowly forced by wire.”
Guilt and betrayal are major themes, and I daresay forgiveness—even when, I'd argue, unwarranted. The story took an upsetting, excessively melodramatic turn towards the end that almost ruined it for me; it doesn’t fit the mood of the rest of the book, and muddled its message. Despite the polemical historical subject matter, the novel feels very neutral, and doesn’t pass judgement on Isabella’s political or personal actions one way or the other… but some things are unforgivable, and should be judged. Every Strada woman is varying degrees of unlikable, but Alina’s passivity was truly maddening, and the American character’s actions and motivations were utterly incomprehensible to me. I found it reminiscent of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet in the way it started very promisingly, yet devolved into absurd personal drama to the story’s detriment; a shame, but Marciano lost the plot and didn’t stick the landing.
(Notes: Read in the original Italian)
June 29, 2021
Oh this book was wonderful and unexpected in the best ways. I already loved Marciano and now I am officially obsessed.
April 29, 2010
Francesca Marciano is indeed my favorite writer. After discovering her in Rules of the Wild, I am so lucky to have found another title of hers, Casa Rossa. I am so interested in her writings that I immediately started off with this book after purchasing it.
I consider Francesca Marciano as a high-caliber author. Her language is very intelligent and very real. Her kind of writing is what young adults need nowadays – the kind of writing that enlightens and feeds the aggressive, curious, impulsive, restless and searching mind of youth and at the same time makes socio-political issues surface.
Casa Rossa is a family saga of three generations. It began with Lorenzo, an artist who bought the crumbling farmhouse in Puglia, Italy. Since that day, it became witness to the history of his family – his wife, daughter and granddaughters.
Lorenzo married Renée whose association with the Nazi has remained a mystery. Her unhappiness made her leave Casa Rossa to live with a German woman. The family’s fate has stemmed down to Alba, Lorenzo and Renée’s daughter, and to Isabella and Alina, their granddaughters.
Alba suffered the same unhappiness in spite of having the husband, Oliviero, a playwright, who loved her deeply. Oliviero’s death remained a mystery that engulfed the rest of Alba’s life.
Isabella and Alina, the two ill-fated daughters of Alba and Oliviero suffered tragedies, too, in different forms. They turned into rivals for the love of two men on different times of their lives. Isabella, an activist, became a political prisoner for about a decade – the crucial years that destroyed her into pieces.
Casa Rossa is an unforgettable tale of family in the face of tragedy, mystery and politics.
http://flipthrough.wordpress.com/2010...
I consider Francesca Marciano as a high-caliber author. Her language is very intelligent and very real. Her kind of writing is what young adults need nowadays – the kind of writing that enlightens and feeds the aggressive, curious, impulsive, restless and searching mind of youth and at the same time makes socio-political issues surface.
Casa Rossa is a family saga of three generations. It began with Lorenzo, an artist who bought the crumbling farmhouse in Puglia, Italy. Since that day, it became witness to the history of his family – his wife, daughter and granddaughters.
Lorenzo married Renée whose association with the Nazi has remained a mystery. Her unhappiness made her leave Casa Rossa to live with a German woman. The family’s fate has stemmed down to Alba, Lorenzo and Renée’s daughter, and to Isabella and Alina, their granddaughters.
Alba suffered the same unhappiness in spite of having the husband, Oliviero, a playwright, who loved her deeply. Oliviero’s death remained a mystery that engulfed the rest of Alba’s life.
Isabella and Alina, the two ill-fated daughters of Alba and Oliviero suffered tragedies, too, in different forms. They turned into rivals for the love of two men on different times of their lives. Isabella, an activist, became a political prisoner for about a decade – the crucial years that destroyed her into pieces.
Casa Rossa is an unforgettable tale of family in the face of tragedy, mystery and politics.
http://flipthrough.wordpress.com/2010...
May 16, 2015
I like that the story's main characters were women. Women who cared, loved, rebelled, learned, taught and hurt. It is often said that you can't trust the narrator but here I did, completely. Because she didn't hide her own weaknesses and faults. As much as the story is about secrets, unanswered questions, she didn't hide from us her own secrets, thoughts or feelings.
I knew nothing about this part of Italy's history. I love to learn what happened through such stories. It resonates more that any textbook, and will probably stay with me longer too.
Can't wait to discuss it with my book club. So glad I picked it - Thanks to Julie whose reviews I love, and teach me too!!
I knew nothing about this part of Italy's history. I love to learn what happened through such stories. It resonates more that any textbook, and will probably stay with me longer too.
Can't wait to discuss it with my book club. So glad I picked it - Thanks to Julie whose reviews I love, and teach me too!!
April 29, 2013
I guess I thought this was going to be a different KIND of book from what it was. But even after I "got" it, I thought it was a little draggy. I did like learning more about the political situation in Italy. I liked an insight into how one sister could become radicalized to the point where violence made sense to her, while the other doesn't--and their relationship rang true. The backstory and the other characters seemed blurry.
March 24, 2016
The last book I read had no flow - excruciating. But this one, from beginning to end - this baby flows! I love Francesca Marciano's writing about women and geography. Her descriptions of land, houses, smells, and plants are masterful. In Casa Rosa, her women evolve and are exposed as complicated beings who are strong or weak and who love, hate, forgive and compromise. This is a beautiful story that also reveals the tumultuous political scene in 1970's Italy.
May 27, 2008
I honestly tried getting into this book, but it was so slow. I read about 100 pages and decided that I didn't really care what had happened to any of the characters. They all had annoying features, that if in reality, probably wouldn't bug me, but since I had so much time with them, it was all I could focus on. I loved the romance of the Italian setting, but that was about it.
May 20, 2015
It's well written. I stopped about 1/2 way through, because it didn't capture my interest anymore.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : Casa Rossa - Nevisande : Francesca Marciano - ISBN : 375726373 - ISBN13 : 9780375726378 - Dar 352 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2002
June 7, 2021
This is an awesome read. A very well-written romance. Delightful, unexpected. About three generations of an Italian family and their conflicts. Life carries on, even after deep heartbreaks.
January 6, 2024
Alku vaikutti tylsältä ja meinasin jättää tämän jo kesken. Sitten alkoikin tapahtua ja loppuosa vei jo mukanaan. Ihan ok aloitus tälle kirjavuodelle.
February 22, 2015
Found this an enjoyable, engaging read, though probably not one I need to revisit. Examines Italy's history in the latter half of the 20th century through the microcosm of a family from Puglia. A major theme of the book is guilt, collective and individual, and how it doesn't go away even if you keep it secret. I liked the supporting characters of Renée, Alba, and Isabella, but thought the narrator came across as passive and very much uninvolved in the political happenings around her - which isn't de facto a weakness in a book, but in this case I felt it detracted because the things that most affect Alina are personal ones, disconnected from the greater national events that cause the guilt that's the theme of the novel. She doesn't voice any opinions of her own about leftist terrorism or in fact leftism in general (beyond the general "killing is bad" type), even though she says she read all about it as a student and her sister is involved in the movement. More insight into what the Red Brigades actually believed and were trying to accomplish would've given the book some greater depth and grounding. Though perhaps that's just my overriding interest in historical fact talking.
June 11, 2010
Very moving, very raw story of a family over 3 generations, but the first two are not too detailed, as everything is told by the grand-daughter, who doesn't have all the information, a bit like in real life, which makes the story even more poignant.
September 16, 2013
Bittersweet. Raw. Intense. Haunting. All the characters in this multigenerational tale are analyzed to their core and so are you, as you end up relating to all of them. A love letter to the South of Italy and the dog days of summer.
April 7, 2015
Great book about love, history and life. It was very-well written, with lovebable characters, interesting and intriguing plot. You get to know a lot about Italian history and what happened during the years of fasicism.
October 20, 2014
Absolutely loved this family saga set in Puglia, Italy. Marciano is a master story teller.... the plot is intricate at times, weaving from 3 generations of a family whose house Casa Rossa ties them to each other. Beautifully written.
July 23, 2015
I love discovering a new author who I can't get enough of. I first read Marciano's collection of international short stories and was hooked. This novel, set in Italy and in New York City, kept me completely enthralled. I can't wait to read another one of her novels!
March 5, 2007
this is a must read---- and you won't be able to stop reading. you can't!! i want to go write from a house in southern italy with cappuccinos and my dogs..
October 8, 2007
loved it.....consistently entertaining.
August 5, 2009
Read 116 pages and don't feel like finishing. Where is this going? Who are these people? Why do I care?
August 25, 2017
Storia di una famiglia, o meglio delle donne di una famiglia.
Si inizia da Renée, ragazza ribelle e indomabile, incapace di vivere nella tranquillità della campagna leccese insieme al marito e alla figlia ancora bambina. Renée non riesce a stabilirsi in un posto in modo definitivo, è uno spirito libero e, non appena ne avrà l’occasione, fuggirà da quella vita da reclusa e dalle sue responsabilità di moglie e madre.
Alba, figlia di Renée, dovrà fare i conti per tutta la vita con il fantasma della madre, diventata una vera e propria ossessione per il padre di Alba. Pur non essendo fisicamente presente, Renée è una costante della sua vita. Alba ha due figlie, Isabella e Alina, ma non è in grado di svolgere al meglio il ruolo di madre: tende ad evitare il confronto, fugge dalle possibili liti, è spesso assente, infelice, alla continua ricerca di un uomo.
Nei momenti di crisi, Alba sembra riscuotersi, comprende che le figlie hanno bisogno di lei e fa del suo meglio. A un certo punto Alina si rende conto che sua madre è, a modo suo, una creatura perfetta, votata alla sopravvivenza e all’autoconservazione.
Isabella, al contrario della madre, è molto aggressiva a parole e, più tardi, anche nei fatti (si unirà a un gruppo armato di estrema sinistra). Attacca con parole dure il comportamento sfuggevole di Alba, la accusa della morte insensata del padre (morto suicida).
Alina, voce narrante del romanzo, affronta la morte del padre gettandosi nella droga. Prima che sia troppo tardi riesce a trovare la forza di rialzarsi e si trasferisce a New York per iniziare una nuova vita. Trova un lavoro e un fidanzato, sembra essersi lasciata il passato alle spalle, finché Isabella non viene arrestata e accusata di terrorismo ai danni dello stato.
In conclusione
Alba scopre una lettera di Renée al marito, in cui chiede di non mentire sul suo conto alla figlia, che altrimenti crescerà piena di rancore. Sembra che, avendo riscoperto il proprio ruolo di figlia, Alba sia pronta ad impegnarsi seriamente nel ruolo di madre e nonna.
Isabella, dopo 6 anni di carcere, durante i quali riallaccia i rapporti con la madre e soprattutto con la sorella, torna alla vita. Si innamora del compagno di Alina, ricambiata, si sposano e hanno due bambine.
Alina, distrutta dalla storia tra la sorella e l’uomo che credeva l’amore della sua vita, troncherà i rapporti con entrambi per anni. Nel frattempo, rimette in piedi la propria vita e decide di “ridare vita” a una vecchia sceneggiatura del padre. Torna a far parte della vita di Isabella quando scopre che la sorella ha avuto un crollo nervoso.
Il rimpianto è uno dei temi centrali del romanzo, l’incapacità di stare vicino a chi si ama senza ferirlo o esserne feriti. Alba vorrebbe essere una buona madre, Alina vorrebbe essere una buona figlia, Isabella una buona sorella. Ma spesso non ci riescono.
Ma è anche un libro sulla rinascita, le seconde occasioni, l’imprevedibilità della vita. La vita di una famiglia tra gelosie, ansie, preoccupazioni, dolori e sofferenze, ma anche tra gioie, pianti di felicità, risate e tanto amore. Perché alla fine Alina sceglie di perdonare Isabella, di conoscere le sue nipotine, di parlare con suo cognato. Perché entrambi la amano e le vogliono stare accanto.
Si inizia da Renée, ragazza ribelle e indomabile, incapace di vivere nella tranquillità della campagna leccese insieme al marito e alla figlia ancora bambina. Renée non riesce a stabilirsi in un posto in modo definitivo, è uno spirito libero e, non appena ne avrà l’occasione, fuggirà da quella vita da reclusa e dalle sue responsabilità di moglie e madre.
Alba, figlia di Renée, dovrà fare i conti per tutta la vita con il fantasma della madre, diventata una vera e propria ossessione per il padre di Alba. Pur non essendo fisicamente presente, Renée è una costante della sua vita. Alba ha due figlie, Isabella e Alina, ma non è in grado di svolgere al meglio il ruolo di madre: tende ad evitare il confronto, fugge dalle possibili liti, è spesso assente, infelice, alla continua ricerca di un uomo.
Nei momenti di crisi, Alba sembra riscuotersi, comprende che le figlie hanno bisogno di lei e fa del suo meglio. A un certo punto Alina si rende conto che sua madre è, a modo suo, una creatura perfetta, votata alla sopravvivenza e all’autoconservazione.
Isabella, al contrario della madre, è molto aggressiva a parole e, più tardi, anche nei fatti (si unirà a un gruppo armato di estrema sinistra). Attacca con parole dure il comportamento sfuggevole di Alba, la accusa della morte insensata del padre (morto suicida).
Alina, voce narrante del romanzo, affronta la morte del padre gettandosi nella droga. Prima che sia troppo tardi riesce a trovare la forza di rialzarsi e si trasferisce a New York per iniziare una nuova vita. Trova un lavoro e un fidanzato, sembra essersi lasciata il passato alle spalle, finché Isabella non viene arrestata e accusata di terrorismo ai danni dello stato.
In conclusione
Alba scopre una lettera di Renée al marito, in cui chiede di non mentire sul suo conto alla figlia, che altrimenti crescerà piena di rancore. Sembra che, avendo riscoperto il proprio ruolo di figlia, Alba sia pronta ad impegnarsi seriamente nel ruolo di madre e nonna.
Isabella, dopo 6 anni di carcere, durante i quali riallaccia i rapporti con la madre e soprattutto con la sorella, torna alla vita. Si innamora del compagno di Alina, ricambiata, si sposano e hanno due bambine.
Alina, distrutta dalla storia tra la sorella e l’uomo che credeva l’amore della sua vita, troncherà i rapporti con entrambi per anni. Nel frattempo, rimette in piedi la propria vita e decide di “ridare vita” a una vecchia sceneggiatura del padre. Torna a far parte della vita di Isabella quando scopre che la sorella ha avuto un crollo nervoso.
Il rimpianto è uno dei temi centrali del romanzo, l’incapacità di stare vicino a chi si ama senza ferirlo o esserne feriti. Alba vorrebbe essere una buona madre, Alina vorrebbe essere una buona figlia, Isabella una buona sorella. Ma spesso non ci riescono.
Ma è anche un libro sulla rinascita, le seconde occasioni, l’imprevedibilità della vita. La vita di una famiglia tra gelosie, ansie, preoccupazioni, dolori e sofferenze, ma anche tra gioie, pianti di felicità, risate e tanto amore. Perché alla fine Alina sceglie di perdonare Isabella, di conoscere le sue nipotine, di parlare con suo cognato. Perché entrambi la amano e le vogliono stare accanto.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2024
Bookclub read [UoG]: Casa Rosa, the red house or home (in my head I translated it as home, it felt more personal - it is almost a character in itself, holding on to it's secrets beyond the final pages). Not a book that I would necessarily have chosen to read going by the blurb but the cover would have definitely grabbed me had I seen it in a bookshop.
Ultimately it is the story of a family, the three generations of females - grandmother, mother, daughters - seen through the eyes of of one of the daughters, Alina. This means that hers is the only life with details and the others are sketched from memories, tales, letters and paintings. I found Alina engaging, her life was interesting and Marciano maintained the flow whilst bringing her family's stories in too. I can see, however, that it would be a difficult read if one disliked her or her voice.
Much of the story does not take place at Casa Rosa, it is a place of memories, of the family coming together, both "now" and then. Alina's story is set in the 70s and 80s, across Italy and the USA, and touches on the politics of the time without delving too deep. Marciano writes like photographs, the memories yellowing with age yet still sharp. The images on the covers are a stunning too, beautiful timeless images that surprised me by being from the early 40s (and from France), I'd recommend searching for the works of Jacques Henri Lartigue.
Ultimately it is the story of a family, the three generations of females - grandmother, mother, daughters - seen through the eyes of of one of the daughters, Alina. This means that hers is the only life with details and the others are sketched from memories, tales, letters and paintings. I found Alina engaging, her life was interesting and Marciano maintained the flow whilst bringing her family's stories in too. I can see, however, that it would be a difficult read if one disliked her or her voice.
Much of the story does not take place at Casa Rosa, it is a place of memories, of the family coming together, both "now" and then. Alina's story is set in the 70s and 80s, across Italy and the USA, and touches on the politics of the time without delving too deep. Marciano writes like photographs, the memories yellowing with age yet still sharp. The images on the covers are a stunning too, beautiful timeless images that surprised me by being from the early 40s (and from France), I'd recommend searching for the works of Jacques Henri Lartigue.
May 2, 2025
Libro pubblicizzato dai soliti noti (rcs & compagni di merende) in maniera spropositata e, ovviamente, esagerata. Dai commenti sembrerebbe di addentrarsi nella lettura di una saga familiare seconda sola a Garcia Marquez e all' Allende. Non scherziamo! Il libro viene proposto come una coraggiosa descrizione della vita di una famiglia pugliese attraverso tre generazioni che attraversano le vicende storiche dell'italia dal dopoguerra ai giorni d'oggi. Bene: l'ambientazione è questa, ma il risultato è assolutamente da riportare sulla "terra". Il libro non è brutto. Abbastanza scorrevole, scritto con uno stile piatto con una discreta caratterizzazione psico-sociale dei personaggi. Quello che manca è l'analisi critica (fatta anche attraverso le vicende umane "private) del periodo storico che la Marciano si è prefissata di mostrarci. Non per paura, non per scelta politica (mi sembra), ma per eccessiva sufficienza con la quale il romanzo è stato partorito. Le vicende personali si perdono nella femminilità più stretta (che non è femminismo, attenzione) che fagocita completamente il disegno della società italiana che viene solo approssimatamente accennato. Amori, tradimenti, ansie e illusioni soggettive, prendono il sopravvento rispetto ad un disegno che poteva (doveva) essere molto più profondo e universale. Siamo lontani dalla "Misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana di Eco", opera che m'è tornata in mente leggendo la casa rossa, con non poca nostalgia. Voto 5.5
October 24, 2025
•Francesca Marciano "Το κόκκινο σπίτι" εκδ.Ενάλιος,μτφ. από τα αγγλικά Κάτια Σπερελάκη
"Σκεφτόμουν ότι ο έρωτας κάνει τους ανθρώπους άσπλαχνους με έναν τρόπο που δεν μπορεί ούτε το μίσος να τους κάνει.Όταν πρόκειται για τον έρωτα,όλοι δείχνουν κατανόηση και πιστεύουν ότι δεν είναι σπουδαίο πράγμα να μαχαιρώσεις κάποιον πισώπλατα όταν δεν κοιτάζει."
"Γιατί στο τέλος του πολέμου,όλοι θέλαμε να ξεχάσουμε όσο πιο γρήγορα γινόταν(...)ανυπομονούσαμε να αφήσουμε πίσω μας την ενοχή,αυτήν την αίσθηση αμφιβολίας.Θέλαμε απελπισμένα να προχωρήσουμε,να υποκριθούμε πως δεν είχε συμβεί ποτέ(...) η ιστορία δεν αφορά την οικογένεια σου πια, αφορά όλους μας που πέσαμε σε λήθαργο και μετά ξυπνήσαμε και είπαμε πως ήταν ένα κακό όνειρο.Μιλάει για τη συλλογική αμνησία στην οποία αυτή η χώρα λατρεύει να πέφτει κάθε λίγο και λιγάκι."
"Κανείς δεν μπορεί να ζήσει με μια τέτοια ενοχή και να συνεχίσει να κρύβει την αλήθεια για τόσο πολύ καιρό χωρίς να τρελαθεί(...)Ακόμα και όταν κανένας δεν το περιμένει πια,η αλήθεια θα συνεχίσει να σπρώχνει,μέχρι να αναδυθεί στην επιφάνεια.Και θα διαλύσει οτιδήποτε έχεις κτίσει πάνω της,με μια μεγάλη έκρηξη."
Ανακάλυψα τυχαία ένα πολύ δυνατό ιταλικό έργο,γραμμένο το 2002,το οποίο περιέχει σχεδόν τα πάντα για τα κρίσιμα γεγονότα που καθόρισαν την ιταλική κοινωνία στον 20ο αιώνα:ο φασισμός, η έκρηξη του κινηματογραφικού νεορεαλισμού τη δεκαετία του '50 και η τρομοκρατία των μολυβένιων χρόνων.Με πρωταγωνιστές μια οικογένεια και τους 4 ιδιαίτερους γυναικείους χαρακτήρες της,η συγγραφέας θέλει να παρουσιάσει σχετικά κριτικά όλα τα παραπάνω κοινωνικο-πολιτικά γεγονότα και πώς βιώνονται από τους πρωταγωνιστές της.Στόχος της είναι να αναδείξει πώς μπορούν τα επαναλαμβανόμενα ψεύδη να γίνουν δεδομένες αποδεκτές αλήθειες.Ωστόσο,αναζητώντας απόψεις για το παρόν βιβλίο,ήρθα σε επαφή με μέρος της μελέτης της Veronica Frigeni,η οποία προβάλει μια άλλη ματιά για το έργο της Marciano.Επικεντρώνεται,λοιπόν,σε μια μητροκεντρική φεμινιστική προσέγγιση η οποία αρθρώνει μια φεμινιστική συμβολική τάξη των "τερατωδών" μητέρων(monstrous mothers).Όπως αναφέρει χαρακτηριστικά,η τραυματική μητρότητα ως διαγενεακή πληγή και κληρονομιά,είναι το φάντασμα που στοιχειώνει τις κόρες και καθορίζει τις επιλογές των ζωών τους.Δεν το κρύβω ότι με εξέπληξε αυτή η ερμηνεία,αλλά ταυτόχρονα με βρίσκει και σύμφωνη,γιατί το έργο είναι γεμάτο από τραυματικές εμπειρίες και γεγονότα που πάντα έχουν ως επίκεντρο τον χαρακτήρα και τις επιλογές της ηρωίδας-μητέρας.Το βιβλίο έχει να δώσει στον αναγνώστη πάρα πολλά να σκεφτεί και να διαχειριστεί,ωστόσο η συγγραφέας θα μπορούσε να μην πλατιάσει τόσο πολύ την αφήγησή της και να κουράσει με τετελεσμένα περιστατικά.Στο τέλος,η γλυκόπικρη εντύπωση που μένει είναι ότι οι ατομικές/προσωπικές επιλογές δεν αφήνουν ανεπηρέαστες ευρύτερα τις συλλογικές ψευδαισθήσεις.
"Σκεφτόμουν ότι ο έρωτας κάνει τους ανθρώπους άσπλαχνους με έναν τρόπο που δεν μπορεί ούτε το μίσος να τους κάνει.Όταν πρόκειται για τον έρωτα,όλοι δείχνουν κατανόηση και πιστεύουν ότι δεν είναι σπουδαίο πράγμα να μαχαιρώσεις κάποιον πισώπλατα όταν δεν κοιτάζει."
"Γιατί στο τέλος του πολέμου,όλοι θέλαμε να ξεχάσουμε όσο πιο γρήγορα γινόταν(...)ανυπομονούσαμε να αφήσουμε πίσω μας την ενοχή,αυτήν την αίσθηση αμφιβολίας.Θέλαμε απελπισμένα να προχωρήσουμε,να υποκριθούμε πως δεν είχε συμβεί ποτέ(...) η ιστορία δεν αφορά την οικογένεια σου πια, αφορά όλους μας που πέσαμε σε λήθαργο και μετά ξυπνήσαμε και είπαμε πως ήταν ένα κακό όνειρο.Μιλάει για τη συλλογική αμνησία στην οποία αυτή η χώρα λατρεύει να πέφτει κάθε λίγο και λιγάκι."
"Κανείς δεν μπορεί να ζήσει με μια τέτοια ενοχή και να συνεχίσει να κρύβει την αλήθεια για τόσο πολύ καιρό χωρίς να τρελαθεί(...)Ακόμα και όταν κανένας δεν το περιμένει πια,η αλήθεια θα συνεχίσει να σπρώχνει,μέχρι να αναδυθεί στην επιφάνεια.Και θα διαλύσει οτιδήποτε έχεις κτίσει πάνω της,με μια μεγάλη έκρηξη."
Ανακάλυψα τυχαία ένα πολύ δυνατό ιταλικό έργο,γραμμένο το 2002,το οποίο περιέχει σχεδόν τα πάντα για τα κρίσιμα γεγονότα που καθόρισαν την ιταλική κοινωνία στον 20ο αιώνα:ο φασισμός, η έκρηξη του κινηματογραφικού νεορεαλισμού τη δεκαετία του '50 και η τρομοκρατία των μολυβένιων χρόνων.Με πρωταγωνιστές μια οικογένεια και τους 4 ιδιαίτερους γυναικείους χαρακτήρες της,η συγγραφέας θέλει να παρουσιάσει σχετικά κριτικά όλα τα παραπάνω κοινωνικο-πολιτικά γεγονότα και πώς βιώνονται από τους πρωταγωνιστές της.Στόχος της είναι να αναδείξει πώς μπορούν τα επαναλαμβανόμενα ψεύδη να γίνουν δεδομένες αποδεκτές αλήθειες.Ωστόσο,αναζητώντας απόψεις για το παρόν βιβλίο,ήρθα σε επαφή με μέρος της μελέτης της Veronica Frigeni,η οποία προβάλει μια άλλη ματιά για το έργο της Marciano.Επικεντρώνεται,λοιπόν,σε μια μητροκεντρική φεμινιστική προσέγγιση η οποία αρθρώνει μια φεμινιστική συμβολική τάξη των "τερατωδών" μητέρων(monstrous mothers).Όπως αναφέρει χαρακτηριστικά,η τραυματική μητρότητα ως διαγενεακή πληγή και κληρονομιά,είναι το φάντασμα που στοιχειώνει τις κόρες και καθορίζει τις επιλογές των ζωών τους.Δεν το κρύβω ότι με εξέπληξε αυτή η ερμηνεία,αλλά ταυτόχρονα με βρίσκει και σύμφωνη,γιατί το έργο είναι γεμάτο από τραυματικές εμπειρίες και γεγονότα που πάντα έχουν ως επίκεντρο τον χαρακτήρα και τις επιλογές της ηρωίδας-μητέρας.Το βιβλίο έχει να δώσει στον αναγνώστη πάρα πολλά να σκεφτεί και να διαχειριστεί,ωστόσο η συγγραφέας θα μπορούσε να μην πλατιάσει τόσο πολύ την αφήγησή της και να κουράσει με τετελεσμένα περιστατικά.Στο τέλος,η γλυκόπικρη εντύπωση που μένει είναι ότι οι ατομικές/προσωπικές επιλογές δεν αφήνουν ανεπηρέαστες ευρύτερα τις συλλογικές ψευδαισθήσεις.
Read
October 24, 2022I like Francesca Marciano. I first read RULES OF THE WILD back in 1998--and I still think of it in a pivotal, rock-my-world sort of way. I have read most of her other books, and they're all rather good, as is this one. I can't say my world was rocked. I can say that I liked it and I'm glad I read it, though I found the cover borderline embarrassing. (My husband picked it up and said, "YOU'RE reading a romance novel!!!!!!")
Basically, this kinda amazing farmhouse/estate called Casa Rossa in Italy exists at the center of family drama, involving good-looking Italian people, some infidelity, a bit of terrorism, and the movie scene. We also dip into SoHo in Manhattan for the art world and Rome when we go to the Big City in Italy. It's pretty glamorous.
Glamor-read.
After I wrote that down, I wondered if I had coined a new term. So I looked it up, and found this (it fits):
https://www.collegefashion.net/colleg...
Basically, this kinda amazing farmhouse/estate called Casa Rossa in Italy exists at the center of family drama, involving good-looking Italian people, some infidelity, a bit of terrorism, and the movie scene. We also dip into SoHo in Manhattan for the art world and Rome when we go to the Big City in Italy. It's pretty glamorous.
Glamor-read.
After I wrote that down, I wondered if I had coined a new term. So I looked it up, and found this (it fits):
https://www.collegefashion.net/colleg...
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