Sunday Afternoon

Every family has its traditions. Some have secrets besides.

Little Teo’s life moves to a slow, tedious rhythm. He is home-schooled by a reclusive mother who takes him to a religious community centre rather than for walks. Every Sunday afternoon, his father disappears. As Teo enters adolescence, goes off to school and makes a first friend, his weary routine starts to fracture. Before long, the cracks extend to family life as a whole, bringing silence, secrecy and sorrow to the fore. The older Teo gets, the more he pulls away from his family. And his life as an individual is anything but happy; it has an empty space that needs filling.       

Sunday Afternoon is a story about the troubles and tragedies of one family, told from three points of view. What seems like madness to the son may make perfect sense to the mother or the father. This is a work about passing others by, but also about getting closer to them.  

‘If we assume that each of us is a product of past actions, we are all to some extent victims of our parents. We tend to see things from our own traumatized perspective, and we often lack understanding for the viewpoints of others. Multiperspectivity can lead to greater tolerance, so promoting mutual understanding,’ wonders the author.