Casa Rossa

I just finished reading 'Casa Rossa' by Francesca Marciano. I found it to be a sad and sometimes difficult book to read. Marciano dealt with the story of three generations of women, each with a tragic and explosive secret that they try to hide. However, the pain of betrayals, and past deceptions do not stay in the past and have an emotionally cripling effect on the daughters making them suffer and make tragic choices in their own lives.

I guess my problem with the book in general, is that had the original woman not run away abandoning her child, she would not have messed her daughter up, causing her to become an unloved child and later a confused and unhappy woman. Had she the courage to confront her daughter with the truth about herself, she could have avoided the whole downward spiral of two generations of emotionally incapacitated women. I can't fathom the cruelty of emotionally abandoning a child for matters of self. So, for me, the book was hard to deal with and unenjoyable at times.

I did like the poetic ending of the book, in which the women, mother and daughter, watch as the rain beats down on the walls of Casa Rossa. As the rain cleanses the building, a design, hidden under the red paint begins to emerge. They see a "pentimento". In the language of an artist, a "pentimento" is the first sketch or preliminary painting that an artists put on a canvas. Often times an artist will change his mind and he will repaint over the initial image changing the postures of figures and altering the composition. Or, another artist might come along and paint over the original painting with his own work. Sometimes, many years later, the original sketch begins to emerge through the second coat of paint, and one can see clearly the original intent or plan of the artist. I like the metaphor, that time is like a pentimento, and eventually the truth of a past life emerges to set the story straight, allowing those effected, to be liberated of the past and able to move on with their lives. Such a positive metaphor sort of redeems the book for me. But, on the whole a depressing book. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I'm off to find a more engaging and positive read.