The supposed love from which one cannot escape
Terézia Mora, in 'Half of Life', tells of a toxic relationship. The author, realising the misogyny she had introjected, in order to truly understand what her protagonist felt, had to imagine that it was a man
5' min read
5' min read
La metà della vita, is the title of Terézia Mora's novel (translated by Daria Biagi, Gramma, Feltrinelli, pp. 400, euro 22), a finalist for the European Strega prize. Muna, the protagonist, is 48 years old when the book ends. Eighteen when it begins. It tells the story of a supposed love from which one cannot escape. The story of an intellectual, an independent woman who, against all logic, becomes dependent on a violent and anaffective man.
This is the first novel in which your protagonist is a woman. How come?
It took me a long time to try to define the contours and perimeter of the female figure I intended to put at the centre of my book. My experience was the experience of someone who lived in a macho society, where you have to do everything possible to avoid reminding the world that you are a woman. This was an imperative that I adhered to very much, and unconsciously, over time. So it took me a long time to outline an accomplished female figure that would fit my book. It was probably also very much related to the fact that the literary tradition I had grown up in was a literary tradition formed by men, so I had difficulty identifying a female author or a female literary figure who could inspire me. That is why I had set myself the goal of creating a story based also on what had been my experience as a woman. I had lived in a situation in which men were dominant, in which I felt put in the background, in which I had been humiliated and even silenced. And I also wanted to talk about the experience of other women, friends, who had an even worse experience than mine. I had to choose a character who would allow me to talk about these issues, with whom I had to come to terms, at the same time emphasising the female figure but also underlining her co-responsibility, because up to that point in my other works only female figures who were victims of what men did, whereas I now wanted to tell a story in which my protagonist was not exclusively a victim.
What is the story he told?
My story, as the title suggests, tells half a life story, it ends with the protagonist being 48 years old, it begins with the protagonist turning 18, she stops being a little girl and begins a phase of life that demands her to be more mature. Almost immediately she meets a man who is a couple of years older than her, but whom she regards as very adult, a very closed, very handsome and very intelligent man, towards whom she feels a very powerful and fatal love. So powerful that during the next seven years when the man disappears, coinciding with the fall of the Berlin Wall, Muna waits, harbours the hope of meeting him sooner or later, even as her life goes on. She studies, finds jobs, even in publishing, which is the field where she would like to make a career. But they are all entry-level jobs, paid poorly despite her great commitment and dedication. One gets the feeling in the book that this commitment and dedication is about to bear fruit at last, when suddenly this man reappears and a story begins between them that from the very beginning is very difficult.
