10 Far from the train Antonia Vicens's novel strikes with unusual force, confirming, page after page, the indomitable talent of an already essential author. La Magrana's publication twenty-five years after the first edition is not only an act of justice, but above all an invitation to (re)discover a work that remains radically relevant. Cecilia's story, immersed in an emotional and physical vertigo marked by AIDS, unfolds with a disarming and visceral intensity: Vicens sugarcoats nothing, offers no protection to the reader, and it is precisely thanks to this naked and stark gaze that a most painful tragedy unfolds, leaving her a monstrous, unspeakable figure. The suffering, the fear, the delirium, the fragility, and the conversations and interactions with angels are not described, they are narrated and experienced in the first person through an incisive, wounding prose that transforms the reading into a raw, profound, and unforgettable experience, a relentless read that—I know this for a fact—is truly remarkable.

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