- Author
- Erri De Luca
- Title
- In nome della madre [In the Name of the Mother]
- Translator
- English edition not available
- Publisher
- Feltrinelli, 2006
- Info
- 79 pages, £9.30
We are all Miriàm
“In the name of the Father” inaugurates the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the mother inaugurates life: with these words Erri De Luca introduces a text steeped in poetry, kneaded with earth and wind, never too formal, but smelling of dates and salt.
We all know the story of Virgin Mary and her Annunciation, of Joseph and the Child that was born in a stable: with delicate wisdom the author makes us listen to this story through the voice and thoughts of Miriàm/Mary.
The mother’s voice is far from every political, religious or legal rhetoric; it describes her one-to-one relationship with her son, who she wants to protect from the terrible mission that she senses behind the Annunciation. No mother wants the cross. Every mother celebrates the perpetual surprise of the miracle of life, which is where spirit and flesh meet and give birth to an inseparable unity.
Intense and lyrical; essential and true.
Translation by Heiko H. Caimi (edited by Camilla Girardi)
