Synopsis

Nadia is nine years old, her mother never hugs her, and her father remains with only distant memories. But one morning, just after Christmas, her mother puts her in a pair of boots and allows her to take with her only the object most dear to her: the logbook in which she records the characteristics and habits of all the animals, because within their universe of feathers and tusks, of sounds and songs, she finds an order that brings her comfort. Together, Nadia and her mother, Rosa, set out on a long journey to the cabin of Uncle Tone, who lives with his dog Fumo in the middle of a large forest, far away from everything. It is here that Nadia learns to recognize the glimmers of the snow and the voices of the mountains; here she hears the legend of the Black Hare, whose relentless pace changes the seasons; here she begins to understand the weight weighing on her mother's shoulders: certainly not that of the backpack with which she sets off every morning on long, solitary walks, but something far more serious and unspeakable. It is precisely in the thin mountain air and amid the deep snow that Nadia and Rosa will have to find the strength to melt the cold gripping their hearts and the courage to set out again along the path of life. Angela Tognolini begins with a narrative as genuine and solid as the trees that are its silent characters.