General Fiction

Quando le stelle vengono meno

(When the Stars Fail)

Garzanti, September 2022, pp.200

Redescovering happiness and the beauty of little things can come from someone you least expect, like a vagrant and his saxophone.

A story of redemption and hope that urges you to look at life without taking its splendour for granted.

Turin. At dawn, the daily routine of the residents of the elegant apartment block at 7, Via Armando Diaz, is disrupted by the deeply moving music of a saxophone. Or almost. The music doesn’t wake the attractive Gemma, who is used to sleepless nights and who has been worrying for hours, wondering where her husband Marcello is, as he hasn’t come home yet. Her neighbour Nevio also opens his eyes and looks sadly at the young man next to him. Egle, on the other hand, is already dressed for her morning run, the only way to banish the thought of her unrequited love. Only Tommaso, Gemma’s son, is still asleep after a night painting the town. And yet it is the notes of this saxophone that will change his life, because they are being played by a vagrant who lives in the street with his little dog. And behind the emaciated face and tangled hair there’s a man who found redemption through music, and who will teach an entire apartment block about the beauty of little things.

Garzanti, September 2022, pp.200

Antonella Frontani

Antonella Frontani, a journalist, writer and TV presenter, lives in Turin. Garzanti also published her novels Tutto l’amore smarrito, L’equilibrio delle illusioni and Dopo la solitudine.

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