The winner of Italy’s 2015 Strega Prize (and translated into English) is a complex and, at times, disorienting tale set in 1980s Bari, and will require your undivided attention. With notes of Elena Ferrante, operatic tragedy and even overtones of the Corleones, the story begins with the death of the Salveminis’ grown daughter, Clara, then jumps back and forth in time from character to character — her father from whom the story springs, her troubled step-brother, her seemingly spoiled sister, cheated husband, ex-boyfriends and more.
The first chapter alone will leave your head swimming as it conjures up a recognisably Italian warm night; the insect, owl, snake and crickets noting the staggering gait of a young woman; the petrol station on the horizon. (“One of those puppets that stand 15 feet tall, pumped up by powerful motorised fans. The inflatable barker fluttered in the empty air and would continue to do so until the morning light. More than anything else, it made one think of a restless ghost.”)
Permeated with a sense of building dread before leading to open brutality, it’s where ambitious literature meets page-turning thriller. In short, the best kind of book.
