Almost 40 years after her death there is hardly any other actress who is still as popular in German-speaking countries as Romy Schneider (1938–1982). That is why the news from France that Sarah Biasini (44), daughter from Schneider’s marriage to Daniel Biasini (72), had written a book about her mother, caused great excitement. Tomorrow, Monday, “The Beauty of Heaven” (Zsolnay, Vienna) will finally be available in German.
Fans will be fascinated by the touching cover picture, which shows mother and daughter kissing while bathing. How difficult it is for Biasini to deal with the memories of the short time together – she was barely five when Schneider died – is shown by the fact that she only mentions the anniversary of her death on May 29, 1982 shortly before the end: «.. . curious like all children (…) I peer through the keyhole. I see a large sofa, someone is lying on it, and a huge spider that covers the body with its legs. A childhood memory. The spider legs are the paramedics who take care of them. “
A double mother-daughter story
But the book is much more than a mere retelling. It starts with the framework that Biasini chooses. This begins on May 1, 2017, when she received a call from the village of Boissy-sans-Avoir, where Schneider is buried with her son David, who died at the age of 14, almost a year before her, in a tragic accident. The resting place has been desecrated by vandals, which sets a whole spiral of memories in motion. At the same time, readers learn that Biasini became pregnant at the same time as this incident – a symbol of the closeness of life and death. With her text, Biasini addresses the three-year-old daughter Anna directly, a double mother-daughter story.
Biasini, who is herself an actress and mainly works for the theater, will never get over the untimely death of Romy Schneider – dealing with it is a lifelong task. «Nobody wants to forget my mother, just me. Everyone wants to think about it, just not me. Nobody will cry as much as I do when I think about it. “