I am the Apple

The rare fragments of Sappho's poetry that have survived until now tell us all we know about her: she was born on the island of Lesbos, had two or perhaps three siblings, a daughter and a husband. She may have been Alceo's lover, and certainly taught girls from more staunchly traditional families that women deserved an education. Above all, Plato's "tenth Muse" was a poet and musician who was able to render all aspects of love in verse: parental, adolescent, filial, the love of the couple and also that between mentor and students. In a few pages, Beatrice Masini manages to weave together what remains of her literary works, using these to reconstruct a fictitious biography set in an ancient world that is not so far away from the one we inhabit today, where young people are still searching for their place in the universe, where in many countries, women still struggle to gain access to quality education, and where the pain of a broken heart knows no distinction of space or time. To do so, she employs a noble, delicate language, married with the graceful, meticulous illustrations of Pia Valentinis, who has won the Andersen Prize on two occasions. The feeling of value of the this edition is further enhanced by the attention to detail - the weight of the paper, the glossy elements and relief on the cover, the bookmark and the cord closure. Io sono la mela di Beatrice Masini rueBallu, 2021