The underlying theme of the second novel of the Venetian writer Alda Monico is the lagoon.

The lagoon is a kind of amniotic womb of Venice: its waters with the islands and the sandbanks, just like sand dikes consolidated by the work of man, defend Venice and are considered to be the city protective walls. In this novel, Venice is described in the exciting period of the boat-races, among sumptuous celebrations, with the introduction of a protagonist of humble origin: Maria Boscola, from Marina di Chioggia. Maria Boscola really existed, what’s left about her is a few data and her portrait kept in the Correr museum. Maria has long been a champion of the oar: in 1740, when she was very young, she conquered the red flag of victory, then in 1764 and in 1767 she reached the second position, the blue flag. In 1784, she won two more races, including the last regatta in which women were allowed to compete. Some popular poems, the ‘gnàccare’, celebrate her triumphs, they’re transcribed in the text and in the scroll ornament of the portrait of Maria Boscola and include the dates of her victories.

These are so distant one from the other, to lead the author of this article to formulate some narrative suppositions. The other image of Venice appearing in the novel is the market of Rialto: the vital, beating heart of trade, where Maria would go to sell vegetables, every morning. The market of Rialto, with its great profusion of fish and shellfish, would always amaze its visitors. Following the pages of the novel, we can vividly figure the place : its acrid smells and fragrances, the shore full of boats overloaded with cheerfully assembled baskets, the crowd, the shouts of the sellers of little squids and tripe. Maria’s family, described over a period of three generations, has a clear and emblematic matriarchal structure: particularly embodied by her grandmother, Orsola. Every feminine figure has a positive connotation; this is mainly evident in the description of Maria, in the beginning of the novel, when she’s portrayed standing straight on the flat end of the sculler. The same connotation also applies to the character of Garbina (a name that reminds us of a south-west wind), a friend of Maria, her first oar-mate.

Historically speaking and also in the novel, the lagoon is a place of movement and exchange, in which the horticultural supply of Venice is produced, where the fish and the shellfish are caught, where one can find sticks and rushes to prepare the lobster-pots and even toys for children. In the lagoon, one can find salt to be used or exchanged with other products, water and sand to wash the fish and the crockery. It’s also a place of pleasure where to take refreshing baths in the hot summer or to go out with friends, where lovers meet or where one can enjoy some time dedicated to sport games, like the stroke.

The sea-water penetrates this protected womb, four times a day, like regenerating water, flowing through the harbour in a delicate and extraordinary balance. The rhythm of tides regulates the days of Maria, her activities: she leaves for Venice, carrying the load of goods, only when the water level rises; then she comes back when the level decreases, to ease her journey. When Maria is finally a woman with six sons, her healing from an incurable disease is only achieved after a long and complicated way through a place full of cane thickets, channels, marsh-herbs and a few log cabins in the Po Delta: that can be seen as an archetype of the lagoon before the construction of Venice. There, in that place of ‘origin’, Maria seeks for a difficult and tormented re-birth that will only be possible thanks to one of her grandmother’s friends: a woman, called Margarita that cures people with herbs, infusions but also with the bistoury. The lagoon is present in the varied names of the boats, we find a lexical abundance that shows the liveliness of the environment: in the vocabulary, with words like velme, ghebi, andar a seconda; in the sayings, like the one referring to the ‘beginners’ of the oar, exorting them to oar a fast stroke: “ocio che i granci no te lo magna!”(Be careful, or the crabs will eat it! -the oar-). We find many descriptions of the sandbanks with “i ciuffi di canne, gli aironi e le garzette che aspettavano appollaiati su una zampa sola, indistinguibile da un esile stelo di giunco, il guizzo argentato del cefalo”. We find the colours of the sunset in the lagoon but most of all the sounds: a sweet, astonished silence, slightly interrupted by the gentle and rhythmic sound of the oars as they penetrate the water surface, forming concentric circles.

The typical dishes celebrate the diverse convivial occasions: the polenta, which is nearly always present; the fish cooked in different ways, in particular the sàor, el pesse rosto, the cape longhe, the peoci, the caparozzoli, the bogoleti agio e ogio and fresh vegetables. In its entirety, the novel provides an historical and social approach, an overview of the daily life in the lagoon as it has gradually changed over the centuries. Venice, to be enjoyed in the most charming way, maybe has to be approached slowly, on a sculler: just like in a moving dance of the stroke, in direct contact with the water surface. And maybe, the journey to the city should start from the place of origin of Maria, in the extreme end of the southern part of the lagoon: the city of Chioggia and the humble village of Marina. This can be a way to enhance the entrance in the San Marco basin and in the Canal Grande.