He repeated to himself “She’s only a woman” with the objective indifference of a connoisseur. But one moment later, unable to bear his mother’s unawareness or his own attentions, he wanted to shout, “Cover yourself, stop showing yourself to me, I’m not who I used to be.”
Italian writer Alberto Moravia’s novella, Agostino, published in 1945, is about a summer holiday which starts pleasantly but is soured by the “loss” of a young boy’s innocence.
Thirteen-year-old Agostino and his widowed mother are visiting the beach for the summer. Agostino is in awe of his mother – who is repeatedly described as big and beautiful – and is proud to enjoy her undivided attention. He feels the eyes on them, imagining them performing their parts for the world. He is hypnotised by her capaciousness and the ease with which she swims, plays, and protects him. His affection for her is magnetic, bordering on “infatuation”, which the narrator acknowledges as a special kind of “turmoil.”
Their cocoon is violated when a young man, tanned and good-looking, invites Agostino’s mother to ride out to sea on his boat. Agostino is sure his mother will turn the stranger down, in the same way she has warded off other proposals that have...