Le sussurratrici

The novel opens in 1930 with Adelasia Martinelli (born into a poorer Modena family) on her wedding day. The story immediately establishes that this is not a conventional romance but a tale about inherited suffering, women’s anger, memory, and the ways trauma travels through generations. The narrator explains that Adelasia’s life changed not because of love, but because of rage. The crucial moment comes during the cutting of her wedding cake, when she hears the first mysterious whispers that will follow her for the rest of her life.

Adelasia has always had a special bond with her grandmother Caterina, an eccentric woman known locally for her extraordinary cakes, especially her famous zuppa inglese. Caterina is considered strange, almost a witch, because she treats cooking as a ritual. She speaks to food while preparing it, believes recipes carry memories, and uses her cakes to comfort people mourning the dead. People visit her because her sweets seem almost magical: they reduce grief, calm anxiety, and allow people to feel connected with those they have lost.

Caterina’s relationship with Adelasia is the emotional foundation of the novel. She teaches her granddaughter patience, imagination, and a different way of understanding life. However, Adelasia’s mother Gisella fears gossip and social judgement, so she keeps Caterina at a distance. The young Adelasia nevertheless escapes to her grandmother whenever she can, drawn to Caterina’s strange wisdom.