R&R: A Feast of Words by Maria Giuseppa – Contemporary Fiction, Friendships & Relationships, Covid-19 Fiction

In R&R: A Feast of Words by Maria Giuseppa, two life-long friends, Rachele and Raffaele, connect through letters and emails during the early stages of COVID quarantine.

Their conversations–fusing with each other and evolving rapidly through life stages–culminate in a long-overdue reunion and a trip to Portugal and Italy. Through the loss of a spouse, divorce, parenting struggles, and the apocalyptic reality of COVID-19, two real-as-life characters–oft-neglected in their daily lives–share their thoughts with one another across an intimate distance.

Simple and elegant, Giuseppa’s heartrending storytelling will inspire readers to live with intention and purpose–and perhaps, to cook more delicious food and write more meaningful letters.

R&R is a small, close story. With only two active characters, readers come to inhabit their daily monotony and to crave adventure and companionship alongside them. Despite each letter’s lack of timestamps, the current of time is constantly pressing forward in the background. Holidays come and go, tragedies break and are healed, even as some days feel never-ending.

At first, Rachele’s and Raffi’s confined spaces are palpably claustrophobic. “I think the world as we knew it no longer exists,” Rachele admits. But as time moves on and they realize there is more to their friendship than meets the eye, the world opens for them in both exciting and dangerous ways. Despite how long they’ve known each other and the correspondence that connects them, they realize that there is no end to the newness they uncover in one another.

In the end, their submission to vulnerability leaves them raw and at the mercy of their instincts, freeing them to live unabashed in their tenderness for one another.

While an undercurrent of romance keeps Rachele and Raffi drifting ever closer, this novella transcends any superficial sort of tale.

This is a story of two people who belong with each other no matter what form their belonging takes. Although hints of “long lost love” appear, the reader feels that no romance is necessary for a satisfying ending. As Raffaele admits to Rachele, “For the first time in my life, I am longing for something other than a lover. I want a true friend. You are the one.” This insistence on friendship continues throughout the novella, despite the romance that threatens their close connection.

They support each other through hardship, coach each other through difficult decisions, and love ceaseless despite mistakes and wrongs. With their letters, the characters create space for vulnerability and cultivate a communal understanding of selfhood despite the physical and social barriers that inhibit their ability to share their lives together.

R&R will linger in readers’ hearts for a lifetime, urging them to intentionally reflect on their own intimate details, including relationships, adventures, faith, regrets, secrets, loss, politics, trauma, travel, parenthood, and so much more.

The form of letters allows the characters, as well as readers, to “strip away boundaries and…share” the most vulnerable parts of their lives. Giuseppa weaves together the intricacies of the characters seamlessly into a world all their own. When readers reach the final page and leave Rachele and Raffi behind to finish their glorious adventure, they’ll be moved to feast on their own blessings as well, moving toward openness and belonging.