At the moment in which Liala's fortune begins to decline, that is from the XNUMXs onwards, but not to stop completely, because this has not happened even today, another very successful writer comes forward, and at the same time sector, generically definable, of romance fiction, but we will see this better later: Sveva Casati Modignani. As stated, it is not that the latter can be completely included within the gender pink, as is done for Liala, because it would be ungenerous and undeserved towards her, as she has far more solid and profound literary gifts, which place her above any other pink narrator.
Compared to Liala then the differences are not few: Casati Modignani's type of writing is more complete, rich, full-bodied, presents an incomparably superior variety of plots and contexts, and we often see valuable descriptive flights.
Furthermore, it is much closer to the social and political reality of the country, with its problems faced even harshly when necessary, which Liala has always been absolutely reluctant to introduce in her novels.
Not that Liala didn't have her own orientation politician. Far from it! He was in fact of tendencies close to the royalist right, perhaps also due to the great loves of his life, all naval or air force officers. But in her novels she preferred not to include these themes, she left them out of the stories with which she bewitched her passionate readers. And she, from her point of view, wasn't even wrong: in the beyond 80 novels that he composed, the political themes would have come into conflict with the expectations and expectations of his female readers, who wanted to read everything, in order to get away from reality and everyday life, which feeds politics instead, and remain immersed in what it can be defined as the land of dreams. Best to avoid it.
80 novels, 12 million copies.
The same cannot be said of Casati Modignani, who as a journalist as she was for many years, paired with her husband Nullo Cantaroni, knew, faced and dealt with reality in its many facets, and knew that it can, indeed must, serve as matter to eviscerate in novels. Which she has done several times.
Perhaps she was hurt by the fact that in her books, although set in extremely diversified contexts, there is always a love story crowning the story. A story that ends positively, leaving the reader with that hidden satisfaction that comes from a happy ending. Perhaps a less happy conclusion would have worked in favor of the narrator, and eliminated the hesitations that some feel in placing her outside the pink grid. Which today, to tell the truth, happens less and less.
Success instead smiled on both, and to a very large extent: millions and millions of copies, it is not known exactly how many, for Liala. About 12, at the moment, also considering the translations, for Casati Modignani. Naturally without setting limits to providence, given that our nice author is still alive and enjoys excellent health, despite the splendid 80 years. It is enough to see the images and recordings of her interviews on her various social networks to realize it. And since she has no intention of putting her pen to rest, we can only wish her a long and rewarding career.
La life
Bice Cairoti, this is his real name, was born in Milan in 1938 into a modest family who lived a stone's throw from Piazzale Loreto, once an artisan and petty bourgeois district, now a run-down area. But in that same house, built by her grandparents in the early twentieth century, where she was born and has always lived, she continues to live today, which could afford quite another home. But she is always very attached to that road, to the house, to the garden that she takes care of with infinite love, and no one will be able to move her from there.
Here is what the writer writes about her life in the Lombard capital:
This is how I like to introduce myself: I was born in Milan, where I live with an overbearing dachshund. I have two children, a reasonable number of loving relatives and friends, who put up with me with infinite patience. Some (a couple) best friends, with whom I often argue, for the pleasure of making peace. I like to cook, cross-stitch, cultivate the art of sleep. I like homemade cakes, sentimental films, the songs of Paolo Conte and Frank Sinatra, the flowers in my garden and the snow. I wish I had a ready joke, write brilliant comedies, know how to use the computer and not feel guilty when I'm not working. I hate electrical appliances, pressure cookers, rain and arrogant people.
She attended school up to high school and then enrolled in university, but after some exams the family faced with the alternative of having only one of her and her brother study, opted for the latter, who would graduate and become a teacher at superior.
Instead, Bice enters the world of work, first as a secretary, then, given her lack of inclination for this activity, she abandons it and enters the Milan newspaper "La Notte" as a journalist, directed by Nino Nutrizio. In the meantime she got engaged and in 1971 married her colleague Nullo Cantaroni, ten years her senior.
For several years she was a journalist, and with some success. Writing is her world. Since she was a child, her father has accustomed her to reading and listening to other people's stories. In times of war, among the displaced people in the country houses, in the evening she heard the stories of the old people in the stable, enchanted by the beauty and variety of those events. In short, she has always cultivated a passion for fiction, so much so that even as a child she filled notebook after notebook, which she then threw away.
But more than journalism, which requires a good dose of truth and little, indeed none, inventiveness, for her it is almost the opposite. In the world of the press, one of his famous interviews with the Beatles has remained famous, much appreciated, but all invented. She had managed to convince a waitress to give her her place, make her wear her dress and enter the house where the famous ensemble resided for the concert in Milan in June 1965. Discovered, they kicked her out. However, she had to do the interview, and a "fake" one came out, which, moreover, was also very popular with her. But she understood that as a journalist she could not last long. Her world was another: not that of journalism, but that of fiction.
The beginning like Writer
In 1980 he began to type on his red Olivetti, the one he uses for work, the history of his family, one folder after another. He does it for whole weeks, to then leave it to his son and not disperse the great heritage of memories of his ancestors. The husband looks at what his wife is working on with so much passion and dedication, he understands its value, its potential, rearranges the story a bit, corrects it in the weak points, enhances it in the strong ones, after which the two turn to Tiziano Barbieri, owner of Sperling and Kupfer. He immediately appreciates the novel, advises as the author's name not to focus on their two names, but to use a pseudonym, and coins the one that gives life to a new writer: Sveva Casati Modignani. The book is called Green-Eyed Anne, and without big publicity it sells out in no time. The editor saw well. The novel was immediately reprinted and reached real best-seller circulations: to date over 300.000 copies.
Arrives il success
At this point the writer considers her mission complete, but the publisher, not unlike what Elvira Sellerio would have done shortly after with Andrea Camilleri, advises her, spurs her on, urgently invites her to continue with another novel. In short, she grasps her extraordinary qualities and wants to exploit them to the full.
Thus began the long process of titles, over thirty at the moment. The real writer between the two spouses is her. With her husband she composes only three other novels, then she continues alone, while maintaining the same lucky pseudonym, while her husband corrects her, advises her, improves the text where possible, but nothing more than her. An illness caught him shortly after, a very long illness, lasting 20 years, which undermined his operations and in 2004 led him to his death. In any case, Casati has now started and proceeds with the regularity of a mule to fill, always with the same red Olivetti, page after page, the mountain of her novels. And always with the same publisher, to whom she binds a sort of affection and esteem. Without him there probably wouldn't have been her either.
La writing? Quasi a mission
Writing is almost a mission for Casati. She warns from novel to novel that that is the activity most suited to her personality: an activity that instead of tiring her exalts her, makes her happy, active, joyful, embellishes her existence, which instead becomes gray and painful when she can't practice it. And when one is lucky enough to love what one is doing on a day-to-day basis, why stop?
Thus come out, title after title, his countless best sellers, translated into all the main languages of the world: Like shooting stars, Desperately Giulia, The black swan, Caterina in her own way, Tango lesson, Something good, Coral red, The magical wife, Top marks, A flutter of wings, A shower of diamonds, A husband's love, Like shooting stars , Suite 405 and many others.
Some have been made into films, and television has also fished liberally in its production, creating screenplays.
At this point, the diatribe does not matter whether she should be considered a pink writer or an all-round writer, without adjectives that prejudice and limit her literacy to some extent. The contexts that she deals with, the variety of themes, environments, characters that she describes, nevertheless let us understand how inadequate the adjective pink is. She talks about everything from business to education, from health care, which she is working on for her next novel, to work and industry.
A eccellente professional
Furthermore, the characteristic of getting well informed before starting a novel, of employing a whole year, then dedicating only six months to the actual drafting of the book also says a lot about how one prepares before writing a novel. In recent times she has even met for several days with the union leader Maurizio Landini to inform herself and read up on the world of work and then transcribe it in her latest novel (for now): Suite 405. A novel that talks about the life of a trade unionist. What's pink about all this?
All in all, Casati Modignani can be defined as an excellent professional in her sector, which is that of fiction, not unlike how an engineer, a lawyer, a doctor, or any other freelancer can be described.
She will not enter the small number of twentieth-century authors that young people will study at school in the future, nor will she be awarded the Nobel Prize, but her precise role in fiction at the turn of the century has been conquered and it would be ungenerous to deny it to her. And then, for her, it would not be a problem. As a good lady of the well-to-do Milanese bourgeoisie she has become by virtue of her pen, full of concreteness and a healthy realistic spirit, we are sure that she would answer the question with a nice: "Who cares!"
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