Teresa was born two years ago. I was searching for a story to tell, and she appeared in my mind, this slightly tetchy but compassionate woman, no longer young, struggling with being overweight and with illness. I pictured her hunching over and writing things down in the light of a desk lamp. Those notes would become her memories in paper form.

Teresa is part of my life now, her investigations whirl in my mind, demanding to be written. She entertains me with her barbed wit, and she moves me with her wonderful maternal and protective instincts, though she has never been a mother herself.

Teresa is a rational being, but she knows when to let her instincts guide her. She bedevils the young officers who work with her, but she is also drawn to their energy, and she fosters it. She’s tenacious, as I hope I will know how to be in my life. She possesses an integrity I admire and the strength to maintain it.

I watch her suffer and fight her own private battles between these lines, and page after page, I feel as if I am growing with her.

This novel is also dedicated to the many Teresa Battaglias of this world, those who wake up more tired every passing day, and who battle solitude and illnesses of the kind that target both the body and the mind. May they never cease to love themselves.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dreams are born and quietly nurtured in private, but in order to come true, they need other people to believe in them and contribute to their realization. I have had the privilege and good fortune to meet those people:

Stefano Mauri, my publisher.

Fabrizio Cocco, my editor (four words that thrill me). Indispensable. An exemplary professional and an extraordinary person. Thank you for having loved this story.

Giuseppe Strazzeri, the editorial director of Longanesi. Thank you for your faith and for having grasped the beauty of those flowers over the inferno.

Viviana Vuscovich, thank you for helping Teresa travel across borders!

All the staff at Longanesi, who have helped me feel at ease even in the face of what felt like an epic endeavor. Thank you for your enthusiasm.

Thank you to Federico Andornino and my W&N, Orion and Hachette family for bringing my novel to English-language readers in the UK and around the world. A special mention to the incredible team at Hachette Australia and New Zealand for their hard work. It’s been a privilege getting to know you all.

Ekin Oklap, my English translator: thank you for taking such care with my words—and with Teresa, too.

Michele, my most eager reader. Sometimes friendship can blossom even without a meeting.

Mom, Fedora, and Franco, for all your help, without which I would have been lost these past few months. Dad, who would have been proud.

The most important thanks: to Jasmine and Paolo, for being part of my life.