I as thrilled to read this novel, then I started an grew sceptical, and then I was conviced of its message.

Even if some dialogues seem a bit awkward, the message of the book is inspiring: people may seem conventially "crazy", but everyone has his own story and not all mental illness is rooted in a deficiency of love in early childhood. Everyone can be the victim of a mental disorder.
The author seems to be vocalized by the protagonist, having the same name and, as stated in the synopsis, the same experience. After having a mental breakdown he is forced to stay in a closed psychiatry. There he meets patients with diverse conditions and together they try to understand the world, its challenges and ways to overcome, or rather accept them.

A book, sometimes struggling with expressing what it wants to say, but in that way kind of underlining the seriousness and urgency of its message: Don't marginalize a vast part of the human population, nobody wants to be mentally unstable and being normal is but a myth.

Everything Calls for Salvation is a fictional autobiography of a 20 year old man that was admitted into a psych ward in the year 1994. The unique premise caught my eye when I requested this book. Though it took me a while to finally sit down and pick the book up.

I'll say this honestly, this book wasn't for me. Even though the writing is beautiful and compelling, the story didn't really grab me fully. There are certain moments where the story could have more depth and resonance but it just fell flat.

This book is autobiographical fiction about a 20-year-old man who has been involuntarily committed to a psych ward for a week in 1994. The entire novel takes place in that week, and you see the ways that the systems in place to deal with mental health have failed him and the other patients. The style of writing in Italian for narrative fiction is very different than in English, and I think that some of the lyricism was lost or did not translate well into English. This book was fine, I just didn't connect with it.

This autofictional work about a 20-year-old man who is involuntarily committed to a psych ward is Mencarelli's English-language debut: Mainly crafted as a chamber play set in the hospital room where the protagonist and narrator spends seven days with five other patients, the text displays the failings of a system that is supposed to treat mental illness. Fictional Daniele hopes for salvation from his psychological state, but can the doctors achieve that?

Now the question what "normal" even means and to pose it in the context of psychiatric treatment is not exactly new, but it is still relevant - this novel might be set in 1994, but fortunately, more and more people are willing and able to discuss mental health in a non-discriminatory, constructive way, and we need literature that reflects and pushes these discussions. Mencarelli introduces troubled, deeply affecting characters, like former teacher Mario, queer Gianluca, and traumatized Giorgio, people stuck in a hellish circle of mental torment that we as readers can hardly stomach - which also goes for the narrator, who struggles with the random cruelty of the world, bouts of aggression and self-medication with drugs and alcohol.

What bothered me about the book was that it doesn't quite illuminate how the system of mental health treatments in such hospitals does not only tend to fail patients, but also the staff responsible for taking care and helping those patients - it is worth pondering what it means to have this job under the given circumstances: It is a mental health hazard in itself. The personnel needs support and better working conditions to be able to do their job properly over long periods of time.

So granted, this short novel does not make groundbreaking statements, but as someone who has spend quite some time in a psych ward (fortunately, only as a visitor), I believe that this deeply emotional novel adds to an important conversation and is crafted in a way that even people who never set foot in a mental hospital can relate.

Apparently, Netflix has turned the book into a series, and I hope they haven't transformed it into cutesy uplifting nonsense. Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhJT5...

Everything Calls for Salvation is a short novel that follows the main character, Daniele, to a week of mandatory treatment in a psychiatric ward. The structure follows Daniele through each day of his stay, describing in detail his experience and that of the other patients at the facility.

It's easy for a novel like this to fall into stereotypes, especially when describing severe mental illness like that of some of the patients Daniele meets. That being said, I think Mencarelli walks the line of describing without casting judgment, except of course for any judgment that Daniele casts himself. For the most part, the other patients' illnesses and characters are treated with respect, and are not shown just for a shock factor - these characters feel like real people, not just archetypes or over-the-top caricatures.

My biggest issue is the overtness of some of the themes. While it's fine to have Daniele ponder the meaning of life with his doctor, it feels unnecessary to include it in the prose, too. I get that literary fiction is supposed to ask the big questions, but it doesn't literally have to ask them when the story itself is posing them on its own.

I'm glad I read this, as I honestly haven't read much modern Italian fiction and I think this is a good example of it. Mencarelli treats his characters fairly, providing what feels like an honest look at Daniele's experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europa Editions for providing a copy for review.

Thank you Netgalley and Europa Editions for the advance copy.
A very important story about a young man’s involuntary psychiatric confinement. The topic was handled with lots of care and I really liked the relationships that were formed inside this confinement between the 5 people that were with him.
However there was something kept me from fully connecting with the protagonist and left me a little bit disappointed and expecting more.
Nevertheless would recommend it also for combination of mental illness in this particular cultural setting.

Everything Calls for Salvation is a great memoir and insight into psychiatric wards, and how the world deals with mental illness. It was very honest and empathetic writing.

Unfortunately, this was just not for me. I dnf'd this book at about 35% of the way through. I got lured in by the beautiful cover, but ended up being bored to death. Maybe it's just my mental headspace right now, because I did have to put down A Little Life a few weeks ago too. Maybe I will try to go back when I'm feeling more open to depression lol however, here are some good quotes and things from that first 35%. If they seem interesting to you, pick this one up!

This was beautifully written and touching, it poised interesting thoughts about the line between sanity and insanity. Daniele struggles with questions that many young people struggle with - what is the meaning of life? how do we exist & enjoy life when there is inevitable suffering?

While I enjoyed the message and theme of 'Everything Calls for Salvation', I was hoping for more depth from this novel..

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Do not miss this beautifully written gem.
For lovers of psychology and mental health, this story captures how your mental well being is influenced and exacerbated by life’s interactions. Whether it’s walking on eggshells with family, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, or experiencing psychiatric hospitalization this book touches on achieving normalcy and solidarity within the psychiatric spectrum.

I didn't connect with this novel in any meaningful way. I felt the trauma of the protagonist but I didn't feel the book offered new insights to me about mental illness either in terms of its message or its literary choices. Mental illness and the taking away of individual autonomy because of it are themes that writers have been drawn to for so many centuries and this puts an added burden, I think, on the author to make something new from this age-old story.

Everything Calls for Salvation
by Daniele Mencarelli
June 1994. Twenty-year-old Daniele wakes up in a hospital room, confused and surrounded by strangers. Slowly, memories of the previous night return to him: a spiral of anxiety and anger, an explosion of violence so intense that it almost inflicted irreparable damage to him and his family… To his horror, Daniele learns from the doctors that he’s been sentenced to a week of mandatory treatment in a psychiatric ward.

Writing with lucid realism and stunning emotional force, and drawing from his own personal experience of mental illness, Mencarelli chronicles Daniele’s seven days in the hospital as he struggles to find a way out of the darkness. Daniele finds unexpected companions in his fellow patients—men who, like him, have felt the full brunt of life’s pain. Together they will realize the hidden strength and value of their common fragility and of the boundless empathy, they feel towards others.

By focusing on some of the most marginalized people in our society, Mencarelli has written a heartbreaking and unforgettable novel that challenges our notion of normality and celebrates the salvific power of solidarity and vulnerability.


A brilliantly written book, in regards to a mandatory week in a psychiatric ward. The touching story of how and what does become one week. It is full of deep, deep parts that will bring tears to your eyes. I saw in the book such kindness Danielle touched others, almost times I felt how wonderful a man, a man with and in need of salvation.I will long, long remember this book and Daniele.

As he prepares to leave the psych ward where he's been involuntarily confined for a week, Daniele muses how he has not told anyone in his life outside his immediate family where he has been. Once he is discharged, the only other people who will know about this week in his life are the patients that were confined with him. In this sense, it is these five men who, in a span of seven days, come to know him more deeply than his closest confidantes.

Mencarelli writes, "With them, I did not have the possibility to lie, to recite the role of perfect person. They have accepted me for what I am, for my nature, so close to theirs. With them, I've been talking about illness, God and death, time and beauty, without feeling judged or analyzed. This had never happened to me before. These five crazies are the closest thing to friendship I've ever encountered."

No, this novel doesn't break the mold--if you've read stories taking place in rehabs, psych wards, or hospitals, whether they be fiction or non-fiction, you know the drill. Still, Mencarelli shows deep empathy for the men confined to a room together and the brief friendships they share before they're once again released into the world.