Il primo bambino del mondo
Cain’s voice tells us this version of the world’s origins: he was born with a face that emits light, just like an angel’s, and his extraordinary beauty is a relief for Adam and Eve after their Fall. His first seven years are his Eden. Then Abel arrives, and everything changes: Abel is nice and friendly, Abel can’t hate, Abel is thankful for everything he gets.
All of this to Cain is unbearable: the first child of the world becomes the world’s first killer.
A compelling rewriting of the origins of the human beings that highlights the immense weight of responsibility, between pride, jealousy and guilt.
Paola Capriolo was born in Milan in 1962. Her first book was La grande Eulalia (1988, Giuseppe Berto Prize), followed by Il nocchiero (Rapallo Carige Prize, Selezione Campiello Prize), Il doppio regno, Il pianista muto, Avventure di un gatto viaggiatore and Marie e il signor Mahler (Bompiani, 2019). She is an essayist and a children’s author and a translator of German classics such as Goethe, Kafka, Kleist and Mann.
