Left-Handed Dreams
Francesca Duranti
- An
- Italian
- professor
- seeks
- to
- understand
- her
- own
- mind—and
- heart:
- “An
- elegant
- and
- engaging
- writer
- who
- treats
- serious
- questions
- with
- wit
- and
- grace”
- (The
- Wall
- Street
- Journal).Martina
- Satriano,
- an
- Italian
- professor
- of
- cultural
- history
- at
- New
- York
- University,
- observes
- the
- great
- American
- city
- with
- admiration
- and
- gratitude,
- but
- from
- an
- outsider’s
- perspective.
- She
- is
- a
- sublime
- cook,
- she
- loves
- her
- job,
- she
- has
- occasional
- erotic
- adventures,
- but
- Martina
- is
- a
- lonely
- woman
- whose
- real
- passion
- is
- a
- “machine”
- that
- she
- has
- built
- to
- assist
- in
- her
- cultural
- research
- and
- which
- she
- uses
- to
- record
- her
- dreams.
- These
- recordings,
- infused
- with
- the
- memories
- of
- her
- childhood
- and
- early
- career,
- begin
- to
- reveal
- a
- tangle
- of
- second
- guesses
- and
- insecurities
- about
- the
- path
- she
- has
- chosen.Then,
- when
- she
- returns
- briefly
- to
- Italy
- to
- attend
- her
- mother’s
- funeral,
- Martina
- discovers
- that
- she
- may
- have
- been
- born
- left-handed
- but
- was
- trained
- to
- be
- right-handed.
- Back
- in
- New
- York,
- struggling
- with
- this
- new
- revelation,
- this
- possible
- suppression
- of
- an
- identity,
- she
- meets
- a
- high-culture
- Italian
- official
- who
- tempts
- her
- to
- return
- to
- Italy
- with
- a
- prestigious
- job
- offer.
- While
- weighing
- her
- options,
- she
- quite
- unexpectedly
- meets
- up
- again
- with
- her
- first
- great
- love,
- a
- man
- she
- has
- not
- seen
- in
- more
- than
- twenty
- years.Just
- as
- in
- Duranti’s
- internationally
- acclaimed
- best-selling
- The
- House
- on
- Moon
- Lake,
- the
- question
- of
- destiny
- is
- at
- the
- heart
- of
- Left-Handed
- Dreams.
- Can
- Martina
- resist
- the
- urge
- to
- treat
- life
- as
- a
- puzzle
- that
- she
- can
- somehow
- deconstruct
- and
- solve?
- Indeed,
- by
- the
- end
- of
- this
- taut
- and
- resonant
- novel,
- this
- expatriate
- must
- learn
- the
- essence
- of
- “naturalezza,”
- an
- Italian
- word
- that
- means
- “a
- way
- of
- being,
- of
- feeling
- without
- always
- being
- aware
- of
- one’s
- being.”
- Her
- story,
- infused
- with
- all
- the
- luscious
- food
- she
- prepares
- and
- enjoys
- with
- the
- men
- who
- come
- into
- her
- life,
- makes
- this
- a
- delectable,
- provocative read.
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