The Sound of Your Steps is Valentina D'Urbano's debut novel, published in 2012 by the prestigious Longanesi publishing house for €14.90. For those interested, it is also available in electronic format (ebook) for €9.99. The book is hardback and contains a remarkable three hundred and nineteen pages.
The author, a twenty-six-year-old woman born in Rome with a passion for drawing, later decided to write this story of the powerful emotions of a deep friendship.

Beatrice and Alfredo. These are the book's protagonists.
We find them immersed in the 1980s in a vague neighborhood where everything is concrete and walls, where nature tries to force its way out.
Alfredo and Beatrice live in the same building, have known each other since childhood, and literally grow up together.
Alfredo comes from a troubled family where his mother died when he was very young and his father is a reckless alcoholic who beats his children to death.
Beatrice, on the other hand, lives in a family that, despite being poor, knows how to support and educate their children, so much so that her parents don't think twice about helping Alfredo live with them, and he gladly accepts.
Beatrice and Alfredo are called "the twins" because they are so inseparable that they have the same attitudes, the same movements, the same gait—in short, they are identical.
They are possessive of each other, they are jealous, they think they have different personalities when in reality they are very similar; they have the same way of releasing their frustrations and sorrows. Theirs is a love that ranges from brotherly to true love... there will never be declarations of love or engagements, not at all. They never descend into sentimentality or honeyedness. Alfredo, with his character as tough as the concrete he lives in, often clashes with Beatrice's possessive and aggressive nature, to the point of violence; they fight... yes, because it's the only way they have to connect, to understand that they care about their union, that even if everything inside their bodies and minds is changing, nothing can ever tear them apart. Theirs is a constant struggle to have a calm and peaceful relationship, but it seems all external forces are against them.
They live in Sicily in a place called "the Fortress," home to the poorest and most desperate people, who are defined and categorized by the neighbors: delinquents, drug addicts, and savages, and therefore people to be avoided. The "Fortress" is a place that offers young people no entertainment whatsoever, no creative stimulation; they are abandoned to their own devices, and obviously also by the state.
The only way they can escape that gray reality is to get drunk and smoke weed... and drugs, in fact, will be the most devastating element in the book.

We read the story through Beatrice's eyes, as she recalls everything that happened between her and Alfredo since they were children, then retraces their adolescence to a point... that cursed point where everything stops, which we discover right at the beginning of the book. So the first pages of the book immerse us in Beatrice's present life, while the following pages bring us back to the past.
The writing is decidedly linear and flowing, the eyes quickly skimming over the words without ever tiring. It's a style of writing that really captures the reader's attention and encourages them to continue reading.
Therefore, it's a recommended book, especially for young people, especially teenagers.

My Impressions:
If I had to rate this book, I'd give it a seven, and now I'll explain why: I found this book decidedly simple, but very well written; it doesn't use a lot of vocabulary.
The narrative structure is very good, the story is well-crafted, and even the various twists and turns that occur are, in my opinion, well-placed. The only thing I'd criticize is the final twist—which I won't mention because I don't want to—as is usually said, "spoil" the entire story. So, as I was saying, personally, I didn't like the final twist because it was too predictable and familiar from other stories.
I think "The Sound of Your Footsteps" is more aimed at a younger audience, as it's easier to get closer and immerse yourself in the characters' personalities and emotions, but also to understand what causes drug addiction. Consequently, it's also a kind of lesson that this young author offers us.

With that I'm done, thank you again very much for your availability!

Beatrice was born and raised in the Fortezza, a public housing project, and that place taught her to build a fortress around her heart. Surly and aggressive, she left room for only one person, Alfredo. A child who grew up too quickly, or perhaps never truly reached adulthood, with an abusive father and no future ahead of him. Alfredo loses himself, letting his life slip away. Beatrice's every attempt to save him is futile, because "if you have someone who loves you, maybe you'll be saved." But no one loves Alfredo. Perhaps not even Beatrice, who can't hope for him to live a life apart from her. A cruel story, the kind of cruelty that inhabits desolate places. Beatrice, raised in the wrong reality, will attempt to escape, but she will learn that the Fortezza, with its memories, lets no one escape. Valentina d'Urbano's debut novel, "The Sound of Your Steps," recounts suburban life in the 1970s, a dusty and fragile era, with a dry, raw style that glides by while touching the heart.