Behind the scenes of The Freedom Offered to Natasha Duvnjak
— a walk with the author around the world.
I often wonder: when we're old, how will we see life? Would we all have lived the same way, or would we have chosen different paths if we had the chance to live again?
That's where The Freedom Offered to Natasha Duvnjak was born: a journey beyond expectations, an escape from that voice saying, 'Damn it, I'm old, life has passed, and what did I do? I worked nine hours a day and took a few pointless week-long trips.'
I wrote the first half of the manuscript by the lake, at a beach bar; each session, about three hours long, came with two Tennent's.
It's almost finished, but I need more time for editing and revisions — a matter of budget. I'll finish the last pages in Sicily, at home. Finally.
After fifteen years of wandering the world, I found a certain stability by buying a house: I'll finish it looking at the bronze statue of the fallen Icarus beneath the Temple of Concordia — that mortal, so-called angel with broken wings — while thinking of Natasha and sipping lemonade through a straw.
My favorite book? Maybe. This one feels like home.
I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, the girl who gave me the idea for this novel — in my opinion, a magnificent one.
A true story?
Yes and no.
A story that could have become true?
Yes.
