Director, screenwriter and writer, Cristina Comencini was born in 1956 in Rome and attended French high school. She made her debut with her father Luigi Comencini before directing her own films. “The Beast in the Heart”, adapted from one of his books, was nominated for an Oscar in 2006. His first novel in 1991, “The Torn Pages” marked the start of his literary career. After “Four loves” (Marco Polo Venice 2020 prize), “The other woman” is his tenth novel to be published in France.
Translated from Italian by Béatrice Robert-Boissier.
“Elena is twenty-five years old, a small apartment and a cat. Pietro is more than twice his age, an ex-wife and three children. Yet they chose each other, and decided to live their relationship by keeping the wounds of their former lives: they make love with the ardor of those who discover each other for the first time, feed on caipirinhas and hummus, concentrate on the intoxication of everyday life.
Until the day when Maria, Pietro’s ex-wife, contacts Elena on Facebook hiding behind a false identity. Gradually, the two women began to write to each other regularly and confide in each other. Maria talks about her life before, her ex-husband, and her painful divorce without Elena suspecting for a single moment that the famous ex-husband is none other than Pietro. She herself willingly talks about her complicated family history and her daily life with him.
When Maria finally decides to meet Elena and reveal her scheme, the young woman is upset. Maria’s revelations about the “before” Pietro make their way and gradually come to poison their relationship.
Cristina Comencini, with her sharp and intimate writing, dusts off the classic theme of the love trio and projects us into the heart of the problems of the couple in the contemporary era.” (Presentation of Stock editions)