The story is also billed as being an unputdownable thriller, the viciously gripping pageturner of summer 2017. A thriller, a mystery, a comingofage story that utterly gripped me from beginning to end and the translation from the original italian never for a second gets in the way. Can you hear me is published on the th july 2017 by two roads. In particular, she explores the way in which writing the novel provided her with a way to understand and reflect the life of her father and his private struggles with depression. A man with a loving, submissive wife and a typical teenage son kidnaps a girl and, even after hes eventually caught, doesnt ever seem to recognize the immorality of his actions.
Ryan summers walked into three rivers college and killed women, then himself. Five novels born from the mother child bond may 5, 2020 by jane ciabattari. She has published two collections of poetry, perseveranza e salutare and atlanti. In the august of 1978, the summer i met anna trabuio, my father took a girl into the woods. The result is an engrossing and troubling book that hangs big questions on the taut wire of a gripping plot. Can you hear me a viciously gripping holiday read set. It maintains a sense of tension and dread throughout can you hear me. It is nothing more than a comingofage story, passive and pedestrian at that. His worried mother knows something is wrong but loves her husband too much to confront him and elia is contending with his own hormonal. In the introduction to this stunning novel about mental illness, family secrets and the way unconditional love can blind us from the truth, italian author elena varvello reveals that writing the story was a way to deal with her relationship with her own bipolar father.
The narrator, 16yearold elia, begins by telling you the climax of the story. She teaches creative writing at the scuola holden in turin. A viciously gripping holiday read set during a scorching italian summer by elena varvello available from rakuten kobo. Readers will devour this novel in one sitting as i did, then chew it over long.
Interestingly though, we discover the book s protagonist is a 16yearold boy. A book that doesnt shy away from pain it shines a light on it. His mother, marta, is the local librarian, a still vivid woman desperately in love with her husband. That is, until the day the beautiful, damaged anna the mother of his new friend stefano returns to ponte and firmly propels elia to the edge of adulthood. While specifying the year and the season, naming a seminal character, this opening sentence is a tell, a revealing piece of information most fans of suspense dont appreciate unless. Its part thriller, part coming of age novel set in northern italy in 1978 and follows a sixteenyearold boy elia furenti, whose father. Just as gracie had run out of money and was about to book her flight home to australia, shed been rescued. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The novel is carried by both the brilliance of its setting and by a scattering of emotional truths. The following is an exclusive excerpt from can you hear me. I really felt for the teenage boy whose father is going mad and whose mother colludes. Elena varvellos prose is spare, suiting the layered narrative well as its shifts in time. In a deeply personal article, italian author elena varvello looks back at the creation of her novel can you hear me.
I am halfway through this and i am hugely enjoying this rich, intense read with arresting prose which makes it impossible to put down. Into this steps anna, the mother of elias friend, a woman bowed under the strain of life. Alongside the central mystery is a coming of age story and the two themes mesh together seamlessly. Can you hear me a gripping holiday read set during a. Had he just read nothing of much quality or was he right. The author is waving a story that comes from the past, shining the present and revealing a heartbreaking future. Elena varvello is a poet, short story writer and novelist whose work has won her critical acclaim in her native italy, including a nomination for the premio strega, the italian equivalent of the man booker prize. Our personalized quarantine book recommendations, round 7 may 8, 2020 by emily temple. Summer 2017 sofa spotlight summer reads the literary. It is the summer of 1978, and elia furenti is a 16yearold boy living in the small northern italian town of ponte. I love books i can read all in one sitting maybe with a break to make tea and can you hear me. It is also hard to believe this novel is italian author elena varvello s debut, such is the eloquence of the writing, rendered.
Elena varvello is a poet whose short story collection was nominated for. This year has been so outstanding for publishing, currently i have a few different titles on the go. It is an unbearably hot summer, not unlike many others. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. The story is a tense exploration of the mysteries of the human heart, the weight of paranoia and the. Fabio geda, internationally bestselling author of in the sea there are crocodiles. It is a comingofage story, but i am struggling to find any suspense. Elia furenti is sixteen, living in a secluded house with his parents. Elena varvello was billed as being the next elena ferrante. Gripping and credible, it marks varvello out as one of the greatest living practitioners of european noir.
Read a mother for his daughter by ally blake available from rakuten kobo. In august of 1978, the summer i met anna trabuio, my father took a girl into the woods. Once a busier area, the local factory has closed down, leaving many residents scrambling to find new jobs or down. This novel is an intriguing piece of literary fiction with an underlying mystery that fuels the actions elia will take during the course of the summer. That is, until the day the beautiful, damaged anna the mother of his new friend. Elena varvello, translated from the italian by alex valente two roads july. An unbearably hot summer, like so many otherswilted flowers and trips to the waterfalls.
When my husband raved about it saying it was the best book hed read in the last 20 years i knew i had to read it. A novel of crime and darkness that eschews straightforward domestic noir guardian move over ferrante, theres a new e. Its a powerful book that reminds me of some of joyce carol oates. Like her namesake ferrante, elena varvello knows how to keep readers hooked. But then again everyone seems to be hiding something in this novel everythings out of place. The story is a tense exploration of the mysteries of the human heart, the weight of paranoia and the often destructive nature of love and blind devotion. Other people love a book, people whose opinions i respect and often share, but i just dont get it. Elia is a bored teenager struggling with growing up in a small northern italian community in the 1970s. Buy can you hear me a gripping holiday read set during a scorching italian summer 1st edition by varvello, elena, valente, alex isbn.
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