Growing up: 3 books with “instructions for use”

If you too have graduated with honors and academic kiss from the University of MemeTM, I’m sure you know the photo of Gerry Scotti which is indicated with a surprised expression, accompanied by the words “oh my god, but it’s about me”. During my last readings, this meme came back to me very often: in recent months I found myself in my hands several books in which it was easy, almost natural, to identify with. I want to recommend three of them, united by some elements: they are written by young women, they have young women as protagonists and it is impossible not to recognize yourself among the pages if you are young women. In short, you understand the leitmotif.

Reading these books made me realize that growing up is a mess for anyone. Common sickness, half joy? Maybe not, but I certainly felt less alone.

All I know about love
Over the course of 340 pages full of authenticity and irony (and self-irony, which never hurts), Dolly Alderton he tells us over a decade of his life, from adolescence to thirty years. In between there is everything: first school and later university, the discovery of sex, sentimental disappointments, hangover and related remedies (complete with a recipe to prepare mac & cheese against hangover), work, Tinder disastrous dates, family and mourning. But above all there is a group of extraordinary friends with whom to share adventures and misadventures, become adults and discover that, of love, there is not only one type. And thank goodness.

This is not what I dreamed of as a child
Ida she is a southern girl Italy which she moved to Milano to cultivate her dream of becoming a screenwriter; instead, immediately after graduation, she accepts an internship in an important communication agency, giving up her artistic aspirations in exchange for a desk to sit at for eight a day, colleagues who hate her and a few hundred euros a month. Among roommates, parties, ex and sushi on offer at Esselunga, the protagonist of the book by Sara Canfailla e Jolanda Di Virgilio try to understand who he is, what his place in the world is and what it means to grow up. Is it or is it not a perfect generational portrait?

Queenie
The title of this novel by Candice Carty-Williams it is also the name of the protagonist, a 25-year-old black woman who lives in London, writes for a newsroom and has a boyfriend with whom she is in love. Things seem to be going for the best, but suddenly Queenie she is downloaded without too many explanations and she finds herself living in a tiny and expensive apartment, devoid of every comfort and equipped, on the other hand, with mold and unbearable roommates. As if that were not enough, she realizes that she is stuck in a job that does not reward her and gets around in a family situation that is not exactly easy. How will he find his balance? As we all do: making questionable decisions, leaning on friends and going to therapy.