"In the summer of his ten years, Luca Nardulli was struck by a revelation. Under the scorching afternoon sun, he stopped his bike to watch Betta cross the square. With the handlebars gripped in his sweaty hands, one foot on the ground and the other on the pedal, he remained fixed, his mouth slightly open in wonder".

This is how "I Who Loved You So Much" (Rizzoli, 350 pages, 18 euros) begins, the second novel by Roberta Recchia, 53 years old, Roman, a teacher who just two years ago had triumphantly debuted with "All the Life That Remains". Here the story of Luca is told, and also that of his family and friendships, a story marked, indeed overwhelmed, devastated by Betta's violent death. "He turned his bike, mounted it and pedaled with all the strength left in his legs". It's the end of his adolescence, an abrupt, premature, and painful end: "For Luca Nardulli, the end of the world arrived in the spring of his fifteen years, along with the smell of thunderstorm and arancini". The move from a Lazio province to a Lombard capital, studies that would then turn to classics, sports, basketball, until slowly building a new existence. With his family torn apart, Luca would grow stronger in solitude, becoming serious, deep, aware, rigorous. He would rediscover, or rather, be rediscovered by a childhood friend, together they would begin to create what had been taken from him. Until the trajectory would be interrupted by another encounter. With powerful consequences, in this case as well.

And the bicycle? There will be bicycles. The old, small, creaking, rickety bicycle he was attached to. And the new bicycle, taller, smoother, more beautiful, given as a gift for middle school graduation. And other bicycles that come and go, on roads and in small squares and tree-lined avenues, left on the grass or crossing paths along the story, life, existence, because bicycles are gentle, silent, discreet companions, sometimes accomplices, sometimes witnesses. "To avoid going crazy" - read in the middle of the book and middle of the trajectory - "Luca fixed his old bike. He inflated the worn-out tires, scraped off some rust, adjusted the brakes and raised the saddle to the maximum. He began to wander for hours and hours, even under suffocating heat, pedaling along the monotonous landscape that for kilometers and kilometers sometimes showed no living soul".

"I Who Loved You So Much" is not read: it is devoured. The plot is strong, involves attention, kidnaps time. It has the visibility of a film, the rhythm of a series. Unspoken words, unrevealed encounters. Forced, devastated, resurrected sentimental educations. Hope, continuous, constant, stubborn, of a happy ending sought, pursued, sometimes seemingly impossible. And figures, here and there, solid, small ports where to take shelter and workshops where to repair. In short, a novel, a big novel, perhaps a great novel. And the success testifies how much we need - not want, but need - stories like these. There are some imperfections: the yellow ending is a bit complicated and confusing, the writing quality is not always up to par, some clarifications seem superfluous, some descriptions redundant. But certain intuitions, so poetic, illuminate everything. Trains, watermelons. Escapes, confessions. And, yes, bicycles too.