Totentanz sau Viața unei nopți

A woman with an education takes undeclared work in an Italian home. Shame, weariness and longing for home wear her down. She turns to writing. She then keeps watch over her dead employer, who became her friend. The story spans one night, and each hour marks its course. To the woman, the night seems to have no end.

Claudia Partole’s novel looks at migrant life, grief and the need to feel wanted. One Moldovan migrant grows more of a snob with his new status. He mourns his mother by mobile phone. He is over a thousand kilometres away. His relatives take her body to the grave. As they do, they hold the phone to her ear. This scene shows how distance adds strain to loss and life abroad.