In questo omaggio discreto a Lewis Carroll, l'eroina attraversa veramente lo specchio quando si scopre malata di tumore. Nel laboratorio del Grande Chimico o con Lady Cobalto, parla con oggetti magici e personaggi stravaganti: il Liocorno, Cherubino Balbozar, il Bisbetico, il dottor H., i Controllori, la Piuma, l'Acchiappa-Luce... Perseguitata da alcuni, protetta da altri, la dama dai turbanti supera tutte le prove e diventa la regina Alice. Un romanzo di grande intensità, che inventa una lingua per dire lo smarrimento che ci devasta in alcuni momenti della nostra esistenza.

Lydia Flem, dopo aver ritrovato le lettere d'amore che il padre e la madre si sono scambiati prima di sposarsi, cerca di ricostruire con febbrile inquietudine la 'storia precedente' e la propria 'matrice fondante'. Perché, come lei stessa scrive, 'la nostra storia non si scrive su un foglio bianco; fin da quando siamo concepiti, ci troviamo presi in un'altra storia, quella dei nostri genitori, dei nostri nonni, anche se nasciamo molto tempo dopo la loro morte. Nel susseguirsi delle generazioni, il nostro posto è già designato'.

Girls in their teens form friendships that are astonishingly intense, yet these relationships are often broken and reformed, filled with confidences and betrayals, loyalty and fickleness.

In these deeply honest essays, seven women present humorous, poignant, and revealing accounts of their own adolescent friendships.

Readers may feel less fearful after learning how liberating it was for one writer to move away from a clique with whom she had little in common. Or perhaps they will come to terms with the idea that beauty sometimes comes with a price. Some will identify with the rebel in all of us as captured in a couple of the essays, or the odd experience of being thrown together with a stranger. Readers will be introduced to the ultimate parting in a friendship: the death of a loved friend. Many will understand the despair and confusion when a friend inexplicably moves on and the relief that follows when a new one steps in to take her place.

This anthology is a powerful profile of teen girls and of the complex and rewarding nature of friendship.

Girls in their teens form friendships that are astonishingly intense, yet these relationships are often broken and reformed, filled with confidences and betrayals, loyalty and fickleness.

In these deeply honest essays, seven women present humorous, poignant, and revealing accounts of their own adolescent friendships.

Readers may feel less fearful after learning how liberating it was for one writer to move away from a clique with whom she had little in common. Or perhaps they will come to terms with the idea that beauty sometimes comes with a price. Some will identify with the rebel in all of us as captured in a couple of the essays, or the odd experience of being thrown together with a stranger. Readers will be introduced to the ultimate parting in a friendship: the death of a loved friend. Many will understand the despair and confusion when a friend inexplicably moves on and the relief that follows when a new one steps in to take her place.

This anthology is a powerful profile of teen girls and of the complex and rewarding nature of friendship.