I’ve just finished reading Un cappello pieno di ciliege (A Hat Full of Cherries), the last book by Oriana Fallaci posthumously published on the 31^st July 2008, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Oriana Fallaci (1929-2006) was a famous journalist, war-reporter and writer. She had always been interested in her family history, an interest nurtured by the memory of a chest containing family memorabilia, which included a lute, a paper model of a sailboat, a pillowcase covered in handwriting, and a homemade Italian flag. When a few years ago Fallaci was diagnosed with cancer, she felt compelled to investigate her genetic heritage, to discover why she was the person she was, and which distant members of her family she felt more related to. Whilst the family history is thoroughly researched and documented, the book is clearly a work of fiction and not a biography as such. In fact while researching through archives and parish registers, Oriana felt that she could imagine the lives of some her ancestors very clearly, and that she had to give voice to them by developing them into autonomous characters. This voluminous novel (864 pages) is in fact divided into four separate books, each one portraying one couple of progenitors chosen from one of her four grandparents families.

The “hat full of cherries” refers to the hat that Caterina Zani, Oriana’s arcavola (distant ancestor) in the first book, wears on the day she is meant to meet her future husband. The hat was decorated with real cherries, and at the end of the morning Caterina takes the hat off and starts eating them!

The aim of the whole book is to explain Oriana’s existence; therefore the writer’s own voice can be heard all the way through. The story is interspersed with comments such as “when I lived Caterina’s life” or “I don’t like the idea that his genes are present in my genes, but I have to accept it!” which give the idea that her ancestors lives are part of her genetic heritage, and the writer had already lived many lives through her progenitors. However the most remarkable thing for Oriana Fallaci throughout the book is the fact that so many times over the centuries, because of the hazardous nature of chance events, she “had run the risk of not been born!”

Another peculiarity of the novel is the fact that the writer speaks directly to the reader with remarks such as “do you remember?” as if he or she were present at the event.

I don’t really want to say too much about the book, as I would only spoil it. I simply want to say: thank you Oriana for your last beautiful present!