Isabelle Staub is a famous Swiss author and journalist with an acclaimed international bestselling series of children’s books, which include “The Kitten Chronicles”. She has also published several books on her nationalities, including French, Italian, German and English. This article will focus on the book in question, which is entitled “istoradors e una vida”. In this book, the main theme is an interesting combination of nationality and age: An American girl, thirteen years old, returns to Argentina as a married woman (called an “accuta”), while her aunt and younger sister are just off to Spain. The fact that these girls are close in age to each other and live in completely different continents helps the story to progress.
Isabelle’s aunt is seventy-two years old, while her sister is in her mid-thirties. Isabelle’s marriage to a younger man takes them from their home in Argentina to a small rural community in Argentina. There, they become involved in another marriage involving a local priest and his family. It is here in this environment that they begin to discover what may be called their “nationality” issue. After the sisters learn more about their nationalities and about their own abilities, it becomes clear that they can work together in order to solve problems instead of causing them.
“I Isabelle” also covers the history of their calling to be called “rosso,” or “common.” The sisters refer to themselves as “ros maliziosos” (“oursselves”) and their marriage as “materias vivis” (“marriages”). It is interesting to me as being an American in this instance, because it is a common example of using the past in order to discuss current issues, as Isabelle does throughout her writing. Her example of the Argentine “accuta” provides an interesting parallel with the way in which many Americans speak of their ancestors and nations, but never use their names.