"The Lady of Torture" is one of the most interesting books I have come across in recent months. Twenty-six "traces," some published others unpublished, illustrate the journey Alda Teodorani has made in fifteen years of writing. Each track is followed by a commentary by the author herself about the birth, growth and eventual publication of the story. These explanatory notes make the work of particular interest by revealing to us aspects of Alda's personality obscured by her reputation as a "dark lady" or, as some had it, as a "bum eliminator"!
The stories are characterized by the variety of genres that run through them and in truth there are very few that can be traced back to the more traditional horror but, as Alda herself writes in the preface, "in writing, as in love, feelings must have a wide range, well being able to coexist in the same author the most vicious cruelty and the most poignant sweetness."
And so, alongside vampire doctors, the sinister and fascinating figures of the Milwuakee monster and Chikatilo, a creeping entity that populates Termini station, and many other dark presences, people and stories cut out of the same reality also appear. And it is precisely these autobiographical traces that are in my opinion the most significant and engaging in the entire collection. In them the author's life experience becomes, by virtue of the grace and intelligence of the written word, pure poetry, a sublime poetry that with great discretion creeps into the innermost folds of our soul.
Thank you Alda.
Addictions Editions - Pages 188 - Price 10 Euro
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