Heart Under Lock

In August 1978, a six-year-old Alice experienced a miracle—though she didn’t realize it right away. On the threshold of her parents’ home appeared an elegant, slightly eccentric painter, Irene, who had left Sicily for Rome ages ago. And one short conversation between an adult woman and a six-year-old girl changed the life of both. Twelve years later, Alice learns that Irene, before her death, made her an invaluable gift—an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an actress—and she goes to Rome. An apartment filled with the ghosts of the past; a door locked for ages with a key; surprising paintings that had been kept under lock and key for years; a diary with a story about happiness and tragedy… Alice sets out to investigate the mysterious love story of Irene—the artist who left painting many years ago—and along the way she will find friends, survive dangerous encounters, and perhaps discover herself. And in the end, she will be given a revelation that will overturn her life again. The brilliant Turkish-Italian filmmaker (Window of the Opposite, Presence of Beauty, Fasten Your Seatbelts), author of best-selling books highly valued by critics and loved by audiences, Ferzan Ozpetek wrote an elegant novel about the death of passion and the beginning of a new life. Here, a love story turns into a detective plot. Here there will be missed chances and accidental good luck, happiness and a broken heart, secrets and unexpected answers. But most of all, there will be hope.