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Pages I never wrote
By Marco Donati
Published by the author, 2020
Five stars

This is a lovely book, written fluently by someone for whom, I’m assuming, English is a second language. There are little moments when you can tell that Donati is writing as an Italian, quirky little word choices that illuminate the arcane weirdness of the English language. It is remarkable how elegantly, and with what emotionally perfect pitch, Marco Donati writes, especially given that the central characters are two young, middle-class Brits at London University.

Luke and Nate are as different from me (who could be their father) as could be. Yet, I was fascinated by how their story resonated with my own memories of coming out at university 45 years ago. Luke (a freshman) has dyspraxia—which means that he cannot type on a keyboard—and Nate (a senior) becomes his tutor. What this literally means is that Nate is Luke’s “personal scribe.”

The point is, however, that these two young men find something they need in each other. While we learn about Luke’s disabilities from the start, Nate’s more subtle issues are only revealed as the story unfolds. Donati understands how to convey the emotional confusion that is (as I remember) part of being young and at university, as the long arc of adulthood looms ahead.

Luke believes himself to be unlovable, while Nate needs to be liked, and generally succeeds. Since, in some ways, this is a classic young adult romance, there are wrinkles in the plot that act as catalysts. There is a surprising twist toward the end that both chilled me and had me rolling my eyes at the melodrama.

The moral of the tale is that even people who seem perfect are not; and even imperfect people are perfect for someone. Donati packs a lot of believable emotion into this book, and I was grateful for this chance to be young again.