Synopsis

It's spring, yet snow covers the summit of the San Gottardo, a rocky monument that looms over the small village of Airolo. The Maison des Roses is still there, surrounded by a grove of centuries-old fir trees: many years have passed, but Nicole only needs to open the wrought-iron gate of her childhood home to find herself immersed in the scent of wild primroses and transported back to memories of a time she thought long gone. It's 1976 and Nicole is eight years old, an age poised between fairytales and reality, when mountain spirits light lanterns to shed light on imaginary worlds. Nicole has a secret. No one knows it except her, but next door lives Michele, a nine-year-old who can't stay in Switzerland. He's a forbidden child. He crossed the border hidden in the trunk of a Fiat 131, drawing in his imagination the outlines of snow-capped mountains and frozen lakes. Michele now lives in an attic, his only companions being his fears and a few pencils to draw colorful rainbows on the wall. His parents' rules are clear: "Don't laugh, don't cry, don't make noise." But children aren't afraid of adult prohibitions, and Nicole and Michele form a friendship built on furtive walks in the woods and twilights spent searching for the first stars. Until the attic window accidentally lights up, the outlines of the drawing of two stylized children melt into the snow, and Michele's traces are lost in time. Since that day, Nicole has carried an unspeakable guilt within her. A guilt that has trapped her in a suspended present, but which now the time has come to free herself and find the truth. This is the story of a broken friendship and a secret never revealed. But it's also the story of how life sometimes grants us a second chance. Call Me Softly is a powerful novel about a forgotten episode of our recent past. Because there are those who sow hatred, but also those who risk their freedom to help the defenseless.