At Christmas we are all better and happier. We like all the people we know and are happy to meet even the most indigestible of uncles and cousins. At Christmas every gift is always right and welcome, even that red sweater with a reindeer drawn on it received from the mother-in-law.
But what happens if stereotypes are broken and, overcome by fatigue and the whirlwind of events, you utter a few words that destroy the Christmas taboo? And even worse: what could be worse than breaking this taboo in front of an audience of school boys and girls and their teachers while presenting your latest book dedicated to younger people? The result, of course, is a disaster, especially in our social age where just throwing a pebble into the digital pond is enough to unleash a storm of comments and criticism.
Antonia, known as Toni, ends up in the storm, a brilliant writer of illustrated books and protagonist of the new novel by Enrica Tesio, entitled "Smiles don't make noise" (Bompiani, 2023, Euro 17, pp. 208. Also Ebook).
Toni is a woman of our times, perpetually balanced between work, family commitments, and the education of her pre-adolescent daughter. She is a passionate woman, but also tired and incapable of forgiving herself for the many small mistakes that dot the lives of each of us. He feels perpetually indebted, especially towards his daughter for whom he thinks he never does enough and is never there enough. Mainly, Toni doesn't forgive herself for the unhappiness she feels in her heart and which prevents her from fully savoring what she has, what she has achieved and the people around her.
The storm unleashed by her un-Christmas words will force her, however, to remain silent within herself, to deal with her own fragilities and to analyze her unhappiness in a more profound way. Thus finding a new way to see things, thanks also to Riccardo, capable of reminding her that mistakes are not just mistakes, but also an opportunity to learn something and correct the aim. Because there are beautiful mistakes, much more beautiful than perfection, like the Tower of Pisa. And there is always a moment in which we can forgive and above all forgive ourselves, in which we can leave aside hypocrisies and simply be ourselves: with our smiles, which perhaps don't make as much noise as mistakes, but make living lovable.
