Dear Readers, last October I began writing the chapters of Carmela’s story. The idea was to present you with the main body of the narrative in English and the dialogue in colloquial Italian, thus rendering it easier to read and comprehend. According to your feedback via the comments section, this format seemed to work well for the majority of you.
I must admit that at the beginning I had no real idea where the story was going, but gradually, as I wrote, I began to realise that Carmela had a past, and that the events of her past were motivating her ‘interesting’ behaviour. I began to understand that Carmela was no mere bank robber or shoe fetishist, she had a clear and rational plan which she was gradually bringing to fruition.

Perhaps though, it’s difficult for the reader to piece together Carmela’s story, fragmented as it is amongst all our other articles. Perhaps it’s time to begin putting all the pieces together.

Cosa sappiamo di Carmela?

What do we know about Carmela?

Capitolo 1

ha una vasta raccolta di calzature
she has a vast collection of footwear

viaggia di città in città in treno
she travels from town to town by train

prova a nascondere i suoi stivaletti costosi dalla vista degli altri passeggeri
she tries to hide her expensive ankle boots from the other passengers

è molto nervosa quando un vigile comincia a parlare con lei
she’s very nervous when a policeman starts talking to her

ha un libretto nero
she has a little black book

Capitolo 2

tiene una lista di luoghi da visitare
she keeps a list of places to visit

aveva intenzione di scendere a Mantova, ma dopo l’incontro con il vigile ha cambiato idea ed è scesa invece a Verona
she intended to get off the train in Mantova, but after the meeting with the policeman she changed plan and got off in Verona instead

si capisce che la sua infanzia è stata difficile
it’s understood that she has had a difficult childhood

si trova una pensione economica
she finds herself a cheap guest house

ha una pistola
she has a pistol

studia il suo libretto nero con molto piacere e comincia a fare dei piani
she studies her little black book with great pleasure and begins to make plans

Capitolo 3

soffre di un incubo ricorrente
she suffers from a repeating nightmare

sogna un incendio nella sua casa d’infanzia
she dreams of a fire in her childhood home

non riesce a riaddormentarsi, quindi prosegue con i suoi piani
she can’t get back to sleep, so she carries on with her plans

Capitolo 4

scopriamo che il suo incubo ha origini reali
we discover that her nightmare is based in reality

dentro il libretto nero tiene un ritaglio di giornale
inside the little black book is a newspaper cutting

si capisce che nell’incendio ha perso tutta la famiglia tranne il fratello che era all’estero con l’esercito
it’s understood that she lost her whole family in the fire apart from her brother who was abroad with the army

è stufa e stanca, vuole tornare a casa sua e finire il suo lavoro
she’s fed up and tired, she wants to go to her own home and finish her work

il suo lavoro è quello di creare un posto dove potrà proprio riposarsi
her work is to create a place where she can truly rest

Capitolo 5

scopriamo che aveva adottato una gatta di nome Bianchina
we discover that she had adopted a cat named Bianchina

Bianchina abita con Carmela da tre anni
Binachina has lived with Carmela for three years

quando torna dalle sue gite in città porta sempre un regalo a Bianchina
when she gets back from her trips to town she always bring a present for Bianchina

racconta a Bianchina le sue avventure e le fa vedere i nuovi acquisti
she tells Bianchina about her adventures and shows her her new acquisitions

quando ha preso l’ultimo regalo per Bianchina, aveva per sbaglio la pistola in mano
when she got the last present for Bianchina she mistakenly had her pistol in her hand

racconta che stava per entrare in banca con una pistola
she recounts that she was about to go into a bank with the pistol

In the next chapter we’ll discover the origins of Carmela’s shoe obsession, and find out what it is that she’s trying to recreate.