I volti della patria

[Autom. eng. transl.] There is an aspect of Katja Fusek's prose that fascinates from the opening pages, even before grasping the plot and becoming familiar with the characters and content; it is the ability of the language to combine an expressive immediacy with elusive and enigmatic traits, destined to remain unanswered or, in as many cases, to acquire a meaning only as the reading proceeds. This contrast is rendered by Katja Fusek in her debut novel "Fili di Novembre", released in 2002 by Janus Verlag, through the development of an unusual narrative technique, characterized by the continuous alternation of monologues and moments in the third person, a alternation of multiple voices and perspectives that, if on the one hand make us participate, with a growing openness in the course of the novel, of the sensations experienced by the young protagonist Zita, similar, to quote her words, to "wild animals and loose rein", on the other hand they underline the extraneousness to the two worlds between which Zita finds herself swinging. This dual reality is embodied by two cities, Prague and Basel, in which past and present, childhood memories and future aspirations are condensed respectively.