The new novel by the Biella-based writer and doctor Monica Gasparini is called ‘White Words’, released by the Smasher Editions in time to become one of the summer readings. The novel is highly topical as it addresses various issues related to the relationship between ethics and science.
The protagonist is Sara, who when her ex-husband dies in a car accident, discovers that she has a son alive. His name is Martino and he is twelve years old, yet she did not give birth to him and was not aware of his existence. How is it possible? In the last moments of her life, the ex-husband, a gynecologist, reveals the mystery to his mother. From that moment Sara is faced with a shocking truth that puts her in front of her past, changing her life forever. Everything takes place in the setting of a hospital where Sara is the head of the Neurology department. Just in the days when the woman discovers that she has a child alive, she is informed that her ward is at risk of closing due to competition from a private clinic competing with the national health system. Sara finds herself forced to ask Vittorio Sarchi, head of the rehabilitation department and his historical rival, for help. An escort, grateful to the rehabilitation staff, will deal with the threat of ward closures in her own way. In the background they emerge ethical issues that touch the beginning of life, the dualism of the medical act, the limits and potential of science.
The author, Monica Gasparini is a Biella doctor who began by writing short stories. In 2017 he obtained the first prize in the “Cronin Award” competition in Savona. In 2018 he won the first prize “Gym champion of a dream” in Biella. In 2019 he won the first prize in Milan “The fragile beauty” and the first international prize of the Circolo Leonardo da Vinci narrative section delivered in the Senate of Paris. She is also co-author of the guide “111 places in Biella that you really have to discover”, published by Emons, and editor of a book review column for a bi-weekly newspaper.