Saving Francesca

Francesca is an ordinary 16 year old Italian girl, living in the outskirts of Sydney, whilst starting a school that have just begun to accept girls. Francesca has been thrown into the deep end and is sinking real fast. As she has just left her old all girl school - St Stella's and now is finding it difficult to go on without her friends that always guide her identity. On top of this her rock, her mother Mia is suffering from depression and is no longer telling Francesca who she should be. Francesca has always been influenced by her mother and her St. Stella friends who she is and now that the connection is lost so is Francesca and her identity. Now that she has started at St Sebastian's Francesca is free to explore who she really is and be able to be her true self. Saving Francesca is one of the most prestigious books by creative author Melina Marchetta.

Francesca is always being influenced by her St. Stella friends in what she wears and who she should be. For instance in the beginning of the book it says that Francesca 'needed to be put into place, the next year I'd be told to find a place of my own, rather than letting the girls find it for me' (Ref: pg 27-28) This statement is conflicting as it is telling Francesca to do two different things that relate to who she is. More importantly Francesca is being lead to believe that she needs to be told who she is all the time by her St. Stella friends. 'I miss the Stella girls telling me what I am.' (Ref: pg 44). This quotation states that the Stella girls do impact Francesca's Identity and now that the friendship is weaker Francesca is lost and must find her identity on her own.

Francesca's mother Mia is a very strong and confident person whilst Francesca is a hidden person with not much to say. '...she becomes someone with nothing to say. Someone a bit like me.' (Ref: pg 5). This statement reflects who Francesca really is. This person