Piazza Castello is crowded: every available chair is full, but there are also people who have opted to sit on the floor or stand for an entire hour. They are here for the brilliant French author, Valérie Perrin. Writer of incredible bestsellers, Perrin speaks directly to the hearts of her readers, who greet her with enthusiasm during her first visit to Mantua and her first literary event at Festivaletteratura 2023.

Perrin’s novels focus on the importance of love, but not in the most common sense of the word. Every possible form of love is analysed: the sweet, the crazy, the impossible, the forbidden, the passionate, the sexual, the innocent. Her characters are capable of love not only as lovers, but also as parents, friends, children, or simply people ready to listen to others. Indeed, listening is for Perrin the key element to love. In her novel Il quaderno dell’amore perduto (Forgotten on Sunday), the author explores new meanings of the greatest human emotion: her characters find themselves in a retirement home. This unusual dynamic allows not only to reflect on the meaning of love in one’s own life and its memory, but also to emphasise the importance of preserving, knowing, and listening to the words and the memories of the elderly. Love is rediscovered as the element that moves the universe: the past, its emotions and perceptions can help new generations to better face their journey on this planet. And, at the same time, young people are indispensable in preventing the marginalisation of the elderly, a growing concern in today’s society.

ἔρως καὶ θάνατος, love and death. The most ancient combination of feelings finds new meaning in Perrin’s astonishing writing, able to speak directly to the hearts of thousands of people, who now cannot get enough not only of her powerful words, but also of her message of peace, respect and willingness to listen.