الهوى

A very special love story

Translating Arabic titles is no easy feat, I have gotten several suggestions, but I think "Passion" might be the best fit for this book.With "Passion", Franscesca dell´Orto has created a fascinating and very relatable tale of love. 
 

On the first double-spread, we see a couple sitting close, surrounded by love and a beautiful garden. As we continue to turn the pages, the couple moves further and further apart, until they are literally at the opposite ends of the pages.​ It is relatable for any adult who has ever been in a long-term relationship: The ebb an flow of intimacy, how daily life and chores takes a toll on passion, and how life, miracolously, has a tendency to restore the relationship so that love and intimacy is again at the center of our lives.

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Dell´Orto proves to be a master silent storyteller. The increasing distance between the couple is pictured very subtly, slowly sliding to opposites sides of the doublespreads, but also with added distractions - more papers, more birds, more flowers, until we reach the middle spread that folds out to complete chaos: A hoarder´s home, with papers everywhere and no place to sit, rest, bathe or live anymore.​ There is a happy ending and a more mature love when the couple finally finds back together again, illustrated by the couples visible ageing. 

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At first, I thought this to be a very "adult" book, but when I read it for a group of five-year-olds, I learned that as almost all great silent books, it is not for one age only. Most of the five year olds read it as a story of friendship, of how friends also fall apart and finds back together. A couple of children related it to his parents fighting and making up. They were mezmerised by all the little details of dell´Ortos artwork, and it´s hard not to be: She uses a collage of different techniques, resulting in pages of such detail that moving through the book takes a long, delightful time.​

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The book is published in Arabic and reads from the right to the left. It is a rather large, hardcover book, a thing of beauty: The colors, endpapers, the middle fold-out-pages, everything works perfectly together. All picture, except the fold-out page, is a fullspread.

A great present for your loved one, a beautiful reminder to keep close.

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