Arturo's Island - Softcover

Elsa Morante

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782274952 ISBN 13: 9781782274957

Publisher: Pushkin Press, 2019

Synopsis

Winner of the Strega Prize

'I deeply love the works of Elsa Morante... I try to learn from her books, but I find them unsurpassable'
ELENA FERRANTE

On a remote island in the Bay of Naples, a young boy roams the shore with only his dog for company. Arturo's mother died in childbirth and his wayward father Wilhelm rarely returns to the island. Left in isolation, he dreams up a world of romantic exploits in which his father sails the seas like the heroes in his favourite stories.

When Wilhelm suddenly reappears with his new young wife Nunziata, Arturo's imagined world bursts apart, and he falls in passionate, tormented love. As Wilhelm's behaviour grows increasingly erratic, Arturo must begin to face the reality of his father's life, and of his own feelings.

A deeply affecting tale of childhood disenchantment, Arturo's Island is a work of stunning emotional force by one of modern Italian literature's foremost writers.

A new translation by Ann Goldstein.

About this title

Review:

'This lovely translation... will hopefully go a long way toward re-establishing Morante's reputation among English-speaking readers. It's a magnificent novel, breathtaking in its psychological acuity... By turns devastating and otherworldly, Morante's novel is a classic, and Goldstein's new translation should return to it the attention it deserves' -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

'Goldstein captures the blustery voice of an adolescent boy... Morante's style is well-suited to the adolescent narrator who, marooned on an island, experiences particularly intense bouts of enchantment and disillusionment, making for a captivating novel' -- Publishers Weekly

'I deeply love the works of Elsa Morante... I try to learn from her books, but I find them unsurpassable' --Elena Ferrante

'[Arturo's Island] is wonderfully rich... The genius of Elsa Morante's book is its investigation of the relationship between beauty and power... The whole novel presents itself as an enchantment that seizes the reader's mind' --New Statesman

'A storyteller who spellbinds' -- New York Review of Books

'Elsa Morante brings to her tale an almost Greek sense of fated inevitability... timeless' --John Banville

About the Author:

Elsa Morante (1912-1985) was born and raised in Rome, where she lived throughout her life, aside from several months spent in hiding in the small town of Fondi during the Nazi occupation of Rome. She started writing at a young age, initially publishing short stories in children's journals. Her first novel, House of Liars, was published in 1948 and won the Viareggio Prize. She went on to become one of Italy's most lauded writers, winning further prizes and commercial success with her next two novels Arturo's Island and History. She died of a heart attack in Rome in 1985.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pushkin Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1782274952
• ISBN 13: 9781782274957
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384