Margherita Musella, "Scuola di cucina... io e le altre"

I have read all of Margherita Musella’s books and I must say that this latest novel sees a darkening of her thinking that remains positive ad nauseam, full of confidence and perspective, but more as a self-imposed belief than as a real foundation. Here, fear and uncertainty about the future break out, here they come to terms with the disease. Among the writers I know and frequent I have noticed, as I age, the bite of nostalgia — as in the case of Lupi, Costanzo, Pedicini, Coremans — and a subtle, unacknowledged fear of the future, as in this case.

Giada, the main protagonist, dissatisfied with her role as mother, wife and worker, with a man at her side who loves her but cannot give her what she needs, that is movement and novelty, decides to open a cooking class, involving four other women: Consuelo, Anna, Claudia and Paola. As soon as her wish is fulfilled, she discovers that she is ill with cancer. The disease mixes with the cooking class and with the lives of the other four ladies, and is told with realistic accents, both physically and psychologically. There is an alternation between discouragement and the desire not to give up, between attempts at rebirth, almost more for others than for oneself, and brutal and banal physical suffering in her elementary nature. The bodily pain of chemotherapy brings the repressed to the surface, Giada ends up expressing herself even in a vulgar way, bringing out what she has repressed, loosening the inhibitions.

The other women are not characterized because the author smears herself on all the protagonists but they differ in their existential problems. Consuelo was suddenly left by the husband she loved and she is unable to come to terms with this abandonment that is unmotivated for her. Claudia does not accept that her marital love has ceased to provoke emotions, so she, to forget, plunges headlong into work and family, without allowing herself a minute of respite. Anna, taken by the care of her children, sees her husband inexorably leave and, as a therapy, she thinks well of writing a book, until someone disillusiones her. Paola is struggling with a love younger than her who just wants to exploit her economically.

Eventually everyone will find a balance. To die, however, to be subconsciously punished, it will not be Giada but Paola, the only one who will escape both the male yoke and the protective circle of her friends. This authentic freedom, not only longed for, will be paid for with death. Giada, on the other hand, despite the disease, will not die, not immediately at least, not in this book, since she will be subject to the two fundamental rules: to stay close to your man for better or for worse and not to stray from female solidarity, from that magic ring, capable of instilling trust, of supporting, of sustaining. This circuit of friendships reminds us so much of the circle of telepathic minds in the Darkover towers.

“And if one day — thought Giada — walk alone on my way, the women / friends / sisters will be there to encourage me, to pray for me, with open arms walking by my side.”

“Cooking school … me and the others” is not a novel but a transfigured diary. Events and thoughts from the author’s daily life are reworked in a fantastic key and spread over various characters. The text unfolds between stories, cooking recipes, dreams and even jokes (the latter, in my opinion, of little relevance).

Mixed with the stories of the heroines are the recipes of the cooking class held by Giada. They are all very tasty but simple, as simple are the lexicon and the stories told.

“… if we learn to consider this meeting of ours not as something taken for granted and of modest value, but something that is given to us to discover how to live our life better, — and this can also come from just learning how to make a simple chocolate pudding with very simple dry biscuits. Well we could consider ourselves very lucky and consignees of a not indifferent gift “(page 95)

We may not agree with Musella thought, studded with gifts, angels and friendships only for women, but we cannot deny the importance of a message that pushes us to live centered on the present, knowing how to appreciate the value of small things.

“I think that peace cannot be found neither in the future nor in the past but only in this instant. Let’s do this: let’s imagine that the only time that exists is this moment. So let’s focus on one problem at a time. “ (page 90)

This is the basis of meditation and it is also the only way not to succumb to anguish, together with being “grateful”, that is, in other words, to realize the good you have, because the absence of pain, the fact of breathing, living, walking, relating, or savoring one’s solitude, are privileges that we often do not realize.

And now I would like to address directly to the publisher Kimerick: beyond the content or structure of a text, which are in any case arbitrary, when a book is published there is an objective need to edit it, so that it can best express all its potential. For example, the reason for the continuous tempo changes within the same sentence remains a mystery.