Brief review
It is a very curious book because, while proposing itself as a guide through Rome’s places of interest linked to the memory of Russian nobility, it goes far beyond geographical and historical indications.
The author of the work is Elena Scammacca Del Murgo, known for having written a series of historical and adventure novels. She is also an explorer of the Italian nobility’s history.
For Elena, seeing a historic residence is already telling the story of those who have inhabited it over time, hearing the voices of people who live and die, love and hate, quarrel and reconcile. And it is exactly this effect that the reading of the Guide’s pages produces on the reader. He not only sees palaces, villas, hotels, taverns and tea rooms, but he also gets to know their owners, the inhabitants—fixed or temporary, he learns their interests, tastes, passions, thoughts and most intimate desires.
Kings, tsars, princes, counts, dukes. But also queens, princesses, countesses and duchesses come back to life inviting us to take part in their incredible adventures. Deep and intense is the preliminary study allowing Elena Scammacca del Murgo to show us the representatives of the nobility with knowledge and mastery. It seems that the author has met them in person.
More than a tourist guide, it is a conundrum of stories of the past and present, intertwiining curiosities based on assiduous and in-depth research. They seem episodes of a long television series keeping fascinating its viewers.
The narrative, starting from the walls of a building to reach the lives of those who inhabit it, creates a magic. The literary work originating from this magic stays somewhere halfway between non‑fiction and fiction and, surpassing the boundaries that define genres, can speak to a broader audience, to anyone who is eager to discover history and interconnections between peoples and cultures.
Olga Matsyna
