Ir-Rota Daret Dawra (Kważi) Sħiħa
by Nadia Mifsud
Following the violent death of her daughter Abigail, the (unnamed) narrator tries to come to terms with the tragic event by digging into her past to understand how and when things went wrong. The result is at once a diary, an investigation and a confession to a departed daughter. The shadow of death lies heavy on the book, whose chapters are marked by the number of days before or after Abigail’s demise, setting it as a watershed moment.
Nadia Mifsud had published two volumes of poetry before her debut novel Ir-Rota Daret Dawra (Kważi) Sħiħa ["The Wheel Has (Almost) Come Full Circle"]. This book is very much a poet’s work. Not in its structure, possibly, but certainly in the economy of language. Not a word is wasted. Chapters are short (occasionally wordless) but convey intense emotions – grief, love, anger, guilt, sadness, nostalgia and, ultimately, if not hope, at least resignation to the fact that survivors need to carry on.
Ir-Rota Daret Dawra (Kważi) Sħiħa is also a feminist novel in that it is a work written by a woman, telling a story about and from the perspective of women – their feelings, their relationships, their bodies.
This is a poignant debut which I found exquisitely moving.
- 160 pages, Paperback
- January 1, 2017 by Merlin Publishers
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