Luciana Balducci - Rola: Un estraneo, il mio corpo

2020, Italian, Luciana Balducci,

Original title: "Rola: Un estraneo, il mio corpo" (Rola: A stranger, my body) by Luciana Balducci.

Rocca di Papa, 1958. A tall, blonde, 27-year-old girl, elegantly wrapped in a little black dress, a pearl necklace caressing her neck, and a very sexy pair of leather pumps with dizzying heels, enters the Office of Marital Status.

She hands the identity document to the clerk, who opens it, reads it... then reads it again, moving his gaze from the paper to the girl. «Excuse me, but there must be an error here; this document cannot be yours ». «No, look, it's really my document and that's why I'm here ». “Excuse me, but I still don't understand.” “As you can see, I'm a woman, so I would like you to be able to issue me a new ID.” Who is that woman? What happened to her before that morning? Something happened. Luciana Balducci weaves the threads of personal history that will lead that woman to cover an immense distance between what she was and what she will become, through an impervious path, full of pain and shame.

According to Marcello Sinni, "The story, told in the first person by the author, is that of Rola who in the 60s and 70s was the first to face the complex problem of gender dysphoria and the social and then legal recognition of her newfound identity. The story flows lightly despite dealing with delicate topics such as the inner discomfort of the protagonist, her fears, her frustrations, her pride, and her difficulty in being accepted and loved both before and after her transition. An intense and well-written story that magically takes us back in time and makes us reappreciate many of the things that we take for granted today but that are the result of battles fought also and above all in the shadows, far from the clamor, by individuals against prejudices and stereotypes once considered insurmountable.

It is a book that marks the full maturity of the author who manages to deal with themes and topics that are different from her previous novels but no less compelling and engaging. A novel definitely to be recommended that makes us reflect especially in a period like the one we are living in and can certainly help us to face everyday life with a different spirit, aware that the world is a beautiful place to live happily, each with their own experiences and beliefs and their own ways of interpreting life always and only in mutual respect for the other."

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