Il viaggio verso casa

by Catherine Dunne, Eva Kampmann (Translator)

Elizabeth, lasciata la famiglia e l'Irlanda per vivere una vita più autonoma, deve ritornare a Dublino perché la madre è morente. La donna non può parlare, e scrive lettere alla figlia nel tentativo di riprendere il colloquio con lei interrotto anni prima. Elizabeth le legge a poco a poco, superando gli antichi dissidi, riscoprendo un intenso legame affettivo che la legava alla madre e ritrovando al tempo stesso un dialogo commosso con il fratello. Alla fine,quando la madre morirà, fratello e sorella decideranno di conservare la vecchia casa di famiglia come simbolo di una memoria ancora viva e di sentimenti profondamente radicati.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland, Contemporary

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Most writers serve a very long apprenticeship.

I became a fulltime writer in 1995, but I’ve been writing ever since I can remember. From short – very short – stories as a child to the usual excruciating poetry as a teenager: I’ve probably being putting words on paper for almost half a century now. What a thought.

As a child, it took me a few years to learn that there was a difference between reading and writing. For me, if you loved books, then of course you were going to try and write your own. But that was an almost impossible ambition in the Ireland where I grew up. I did the next best thing: the thing that kept me closest to books. I became a teacher, and I taught, very happily, for seventeen years. I loved teaching and still very much enjoy the Creative Writing workshops that I often facilitate.

But writing increasingly became a compulsion, almost an obsession. Nothing else satisfied in the way that writing satisfied, and so I continued to attempt poetry, short stories, non-fiction essays, honing my craft, serving my apprenticeship, until I finally finished my first novel, In the Beginning.

In the Beginning was published in 1997 and was very well-received, both critically and popularly. It was translated into several languages and went on to be shortlisted for the ‘Bancarella’ – the Italian booksellers’ prize.

A Name for Himself followed a year later, and was short listed for the Kerry Fiction Prize.

Between 2000 and 2014, I have published seven further novels: The Walled Garden, Another Kind of Life, Something Like Love, At a Time Like This, Set in Stone, Missing Julia and The Things We Know Now.

My non-fiction book, An Unconsidered People was published in 2003.

I’ve also written short stories and non-fiction pieces for various publications, among them Moments, Travelling Light, and Irish Girls about Town.

I receive a lot of requests to discuss various aspects of the creative process: the role played by inspiration, imagination, dedication and craft. I can’t answer all of these questions individually, so part of this website has been dedicated to a ‘Readers’ Forum’ in order to attempt to answer the most frequently-asked questions.

Reviews

[Adriana Consalvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

È una storia che fa riflettere sul valore della vita, del tempo e soprattutto sul fatto che bisogna chiarirsi, dirsi tutto ciò che si prova.
Un difficile rapporto con la madre, la riscoperta dell'affetto che le lega, malgrado tutto, attraverso delle lettere lasciate ai figli. Una storia di famiglia che cerca di superare ogni difficoltà in un uno dei momento più difficili della vita.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really well-written story, but it didn't grab me. I think it was a combination of the type of story and the long monologues by the two key characters: Alice and her daughter, Beth. I did like the letters though. I think some people will really love this book, just wasn't for me.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this books but I didn't love it. I don't think it was a very veeeery interesting book or a "WOW" book. It has a beautiful and well written story but the whole book is about one specific subject and it isn't very dinamic, it's focused mainly in the same thing and that's about it.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can understand why this book wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea. Its characters are very introspective, there’s a lot of time hopping from past to present and back again, and it’s often sad. However, I thought this was an excellent read, a speculative look at the inner workings of an elderly woman’s mind as she struggles through successively more serious cerebral vascular events over several weeks. More interesting to me, was the dissection of the fractured mother-daughter relationship between Alice and her daughter, Beth, and how the mother had set the healing in motion by a writing a series of handwritten letters prior to her incapacitation. The central character, Beth, was well written and seemed like a believable person to me, especially as she had tangible faults, yet had her reasons for behaving the way she did. I thought it was a great read, and am glad I found it among the books given me by my bestie!

[Alisea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certi libri, in certi momenti, possono avere quasi un effetto terapeutico.
Ha tanto da dire questo libro: il rapporto con la propria madre condiziona il proprio essere donna, il proprio essere madre. Il confronto che deriva da generazioni diverse, esperienze diverse ma vissuto comune costringe all'analisi di sé, all'autocritica, ad affrontare finalmente il proprio Io liberandolo dai veli della parzialità, del ricordo deforme e selettivo.
Una grande Dunne quindi, capace di scandagliare l'animo e di tracciare il percorso verso una migliore conoscenza di sé per ricucire legami che, nel bene o nel male, hanno costruito ciò che siamo.

[Rosângela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro che ha avuto un effetto inaspettato su di me. Sono partita pensando a un romanzo scorrevole, leggero e mi sono ritrovata a fare delle riflessione su la vita, i rapporti, i sogni/le ambizioni, le concessioni, i fraintendimenti, i ripensamenti. La scrittura è molto scorrevole e le descrizioni dei momenti di turbamento mentale di Alice sono molto coinvolgenti. Non so quanto il momento presente - pandemia per covid-19 - abbia inciso sulla mia sensibilità in questa lettura a prima vista banale, ma che mi ha preso molto.

Vorrei fosse possibile dare 3,5 stelle.

[Christine Tookey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! I’ve re-read it at different times in my life and it has meant something different on each occasion, especially as my daughter has grown from child to woman and my mother into old age, often sad at times but poignantly lovely at the same time? A very thought provoking read, reminding one of their own past

[Loredana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful and touching book! It is a journey through the memories and the past, which lets the reader rebuild piece by piece the main moments Alice lived, her relationship with her daughter Beth and son James. The letters she wrote to Beth get the reader more involved in her thoughts, feelings and emotions. I found it very emotional!

[Stefania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questa autrice è davvero esperta di legami familiari, riesce ad analizzarli talmente bene che è difficile leggere questo suo romanzo e non trovare un pezzetto di noi. Il rapporto tra una madre e un figlia è quasi sempre molto complicato e ricco di incrinature che ne minacciano la solidità, lo sa bene Elizabeth che torna a casa, al capezzale della madre morente con cui non è sempre andata d'accordo. Ma in questo momento così delicato riesce ad ascoltare e a capire di più la sua mamma. È una storia commovente e ricca di insegnamenti.

[#mimmiläser]

Minneslunden

[Giorgia Minotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am nothing if not a sucker for book and movies about mothers and daughters, and be sure I will cry EVERYTIME

[Hanne Neyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm en teder. Mooie omschrijvingen van een dementerende geest.

[EmmiK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice is a 70-something year old mother & grandmother who is dying. Beth (Elizabeth), her only daughter left home and her life is now in England while James, the only son, still lives in Dublin and gets to see his mother often.
Beth returns home after learning the news of her mother's condition and frailty, she basically returns to say her goodbyes. She also discovers letters addressed to both She and James from her dying mother. Through these letters, Alice communicates with Beth and opens up to her daughter about past events and gives advice.
What I liked about this book is the maturity in the style of writing, the anecdotes used, the flow and choice of words. I also liked the idea behind the story and way it was told/written. It felt real to me and I loved that about it. The characters' development by the end was appropriate and satisfying. My favorite part would be the way Alice experienced the different events in her life and the way she lets her daughter know about it. It brings a youthfulness to her character, a more vibrant and lively Alice who was a wife, a teenager at one point, a romantic in love with a man who loved her even more.
I can't think of anything I disliked about it.

[libri tra i libri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I legami familiari non sono mai facili, ognuno di noi vive le stesse emozioni in modo diverso e a volte ci si chiude nelle proprie convinzioni e nei propri orgogli personali.
Le protagoniste di questo romanzo sono due donne, Alice e Beth, una madre ed una figlia che si ritrovano.
Il ritorno alla casa dell'infanzia per Beth che deve assistere la madre morente è un occasione per capire e per rileggere la propria storia.
Cosi attraverso la lettura di alcune lettere che la madre, prima di andare in coma, le ha scritto e le ha lasciato e attraverso i ricordi che emergono respirando l'aria della casa dove è cresciuta, Beth si riconcilia con la vita e riallaccia con più forza il legame con il fratello James.
È il primo libro di Catherine Dunne che leggo, è stata una lettura piacevole e veloce ma non mi ha emozionato, e come se la storia fosse sempre rimasta in superficie e gli aspetti psicologici e caratteriali solo accennati.
Questa lettura è stata decisamente inferiore alle mie aspettative.

Lo consiglio per chi vuole leggere un romanzo scorrevole e rilassante senza troppe pretese.

[Damhnait Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-told story of a difficult mother-daughter relationship and the damage done within the family as much by things that are said as by things left unsaid. I think that although the main narrator is not easy to like or sympathise with you continue to read to discover how she has developed and how her father's early death impacted on his wife and children. The use of sewing and dressmaking is interesting- for the mother it represents nurturing and a means of expressing emotions that she perhaps cannot verbalise yet for the daughter the homemade clothes are constricting and outmoded and a symbol of the family's financial difficulties following her father's death.

[Maryrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a book about a woman who returns home to Dublin for her mother's dying days. Their relationship wasn't that great over the years and now her mother is dying, in a coma, at home. The book travels back and forth in time, and by character. Nice writing, a very definite Dublin feel about it. It brought a tear to my eye at the end of it and prompted me to ring my mother for a chat!

[Sharon Wilbur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a surprise. I don't even remember where I picked up, but noticed it on the shelf and pulled it

It is well written and touches your heart. Dunne develops the family relationships in a way that each of them is real and each is connected in the touching developments between Beth and her Mother.

Have the tissues ready.

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

in italian "Il viaggio verso casa"

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

And averagely nice book - captivating style, quick read, common theme involving family around death of matriarchal figure

[Sara Manetti · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is not one of the best book I've read, actually it's one of the worse. The story is nice but let's say it's not my kind. The italian translation was awful.

[Gloria Finocchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il racconto di una donna che deve far pace con il proprio passato per ritrovare se stessa nel presente.

[Jan]

Good story although sad

[LauraT · Rating 4 out of 5]

bel libro di analisi psicologica del rapporto madre figlia; comincio a pensare che, oltre al rapporto con mia mamma, devo guardare quello con i miei fgli - il maschio soprattutto

[jeta · Rating 2 out of 5]

consiglio se volete andare in blocco

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book even if it left me feeling a little melancholy.

[Sukanyaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes you waanna cry,amazing