The House on Via Gemito

March 27, 2023
Starnone (Trust) draws on his personal history in this nuanced saga of life as the child of an artist, originally published more than 20 years ago and now appearing in English for the first time. At the center are prickly memories of narrator Mimí’s high-spirited, contentious father, Federi, as Mimí grows up in postwar Naples, seeking love and attention. Federi, a passionate and frustrated painter, supports the family as a railway worker while awaiting his big break. He contends with rivalries among fellow members of the insular art community, especially during competition in the Salon des Refuse. Mimí takes on the role of his father’s model, pouring water from a demijohn and enduring an “uncomfortable pose” for what Federi believes will be his masterpiece, The Drinkers—a work “better than Manet’s Dejeuner sur l’herbe,” according to Federi. Later, a dancer, the uncle of a girl Mimí has a crush on, upends the family’s dynamics after Federi insults him with homophobic slurs, prompting Mimí to question his father’s worldview. Vividly portrayed secondary characters—mothers, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors—lend additional gravitas. Starnone’s richly examined narrative makes for an enduring coming-of-age.