So in Terra, review of the new novel by Patrick Fogli

So in Terra

A past shrouded in fog and pain, an incredible power hidden under the eyes of all, are the elements that characterize the story of Daniel, the protagonist of So on earth, the new novel by Patrick Fogli that has just arrived in the bookstore with Mondadori. We have tried to make room for ourselves between the cumbersome secrets of Daniel's life and what comes out of it is a strong and real inner analysis: what would you do if you were able to perform real miracles?

So in Terra is the place where miracles are born

Patrick Fogli is proving to be an important constant in Italian fiction, especially in recent years when the author has proved particularly prolific. Author of To Who Belongs to the Night (2018), which earned him the Scerbanenco Prize, Fogli is an Italian writer and screenwriter with a degree in electronic engineering, who made his debut with his first novel in 2006 with the thriller Slowly Before Dying and , subsequently, it was appreciated in many other works, including The Last Summer of Innocence (Piemme, 2007), Il tempo infranto (Piemme, 2008), Should I be smoke (Piemme, 2014), the aforementioned and awarded To whom the night and The Lord of the Masks belongs (2019).

With the latest novel Thus In Earth, published by Mondadori, the author tells us the story of Daniel following two time windows, in one the child Daniel , in the other in adulthood, but finding himself managing real superpowers linked to psychokinesis or mind reading that have always scared him. Man does not know how and when he received this gift, his past is shrouded in fog, or at least reports a "black hole" before his five years, the age in which a great trauma will accompany him forever.

Her story begins on the day she walks through the gate of an institute of nuns, hand in hand with her mother. That will be the last night in which Daniel will be able to hear the woman's breath, who will die leaving him alone in the world and without answers to all the whys of her. Since he was a child, Daniel realizes that he just needs to want something for it to happen ... he can move objects, manage an unknown and invisible force, and even manage to save people from certain death.

A novel about acceptance

In So on Earth, together with the knowledge of Daniel, the reader is pushed to the analysis of himself and to the reflection of the acceptance of his own ego. Patrick Fogli drew a complete, plausible and complex picture of his protagonist, retracing Daniel's life in two parallel narrative phases, alternating past and present. The answers to his doubts and fears, while not knowing his history from the beginning, are hidden in his past, and remain as key elements in the life he then leads as an adult, representing his ghosts.

| ); } The author exploits the element of superpowers to mark the protagonist's diversity, and then highlight his existential discomfort. An expedient that puts the reader in the role of the protagonist to the end, despite not having supernatural powers: in real life there are just as many things hidden within us, that we carry inside and that we are afraid to show to those around us; as we grow up we learn to manage these fears and often to hide them forever for all to see.

Unless, you arrive in a part of your life, in which you decide not to wear the mask anymore. Speaking of masks, the novel offers the interesting metaphorical juxtaposition of a superoistic parable, developing the hero in his torment, managing his powers every day of his life, building a defensive shield to protect him from the outside world. The identity of the superhero, in this case, is that of the illusionist famous and appreciated all over the world because of the incredible prodigies he performs, but behind the mask and the shield of the illusionist there is the fragile, reserved and uncomfortable as such a popular character, ultimately living a life full of falsehoods that don't belong to him.

To overcome the anguish inside, Daniel will have to learn to accept himself and resolve some of the biggest conflicts like that religious, which in this story represents the most important theme immediately after that of acceptance.




Thus in Earth is a novel that lays bare our fears, using comic and superhero figures, but inserted in a format as much as ever more realistic and free from that almost fabulous imagery of the usual characters out of the ordinary and authentic divinities. On the contrary, Daniel with all his superpowers is one of us - as also happens in the later reinterpretation of the greatest superheroes, with the intent of making them as human as possible - who wishes to know and accept himself. Confirming the style of Fogli, the story is fascinating and keeps the reader tied up in the almost 400 pages of a novel that will thrill those who believe that man is the true architect of true "miracles".

For the reading of So on earth, we would like to advise you to listen to Final Masquerade by Linkin Park and Eclipse by Pink Floyd (listening for other things recommended by the same author).