“VENERDÌ RE-VERSO” “[…] the infinite depth of the dream behind the stars.” Without getting too esoteric, it must be said that sometimes the coincidences that connect us to books have a certain oracular quality, like when the random player plays the exact song you were thinking about. And we’ve been thinking a lot about dreams lately. Will we classify it as suggestion, or will we choose to believe in that bit of magic that...
Catalan writer and artist Irene Solà’s debut novel, The embankment, despite its age—the Catalan original dates back to 2017—arrives in Italy with a surprisingly intact and original charm. Nothing in this novel is linear: the story unfolds through small, intimate episodes, a mosaic of intertwined narratives and tales, in which writing itself becomes the thread that ties together characters, old loves, eccentric families, places, and memories. At the center of the novel is Ada, who...
“Love, my dear, is a feeling of luxury.” The story is about a love that shouldn’t have happened, just as it shouldn’t have died. On one side, we have Yves Harteloup, a wealthy man who has lost much of his wealth and is forced to live like a common clerk in early 1900s Paris, and Denise Jessaint, the young wife of a wealthy businessman, Yves’s comrade in arms during the Great War. The two meet...
“The carrion crow flaps wildly. Each blow is a poem of freedom denied, burned. Erased.” First nominee for the 2026 Edoardo Kihlgren Award for a Debut Book. Be thrilled for the year-long wait! The story begins in Lancashire, England. During her fieldwork, ornithologist Olga Leffman filmed a video of carrion crow, seemingly organized, lighting a fire on a rock face. Thanks to its spread via social media, the video quickly went viral worldwide, as did...
I pondered for a long time what sense there would be in writing about this novel, because so much has been written, commented on, and discussed. Then I recognized the importance this author has had for me over time, and how much I’ve fallen back in love with his writing, with his magnificent ability to address all aspects of humanity, and then I decided that, at least for me, it will always make sense to...
“Perfect: an insult from an ignorant person is always flattering.” We picked this book up at random in a bookstore, drawn by the cover. We didn’t know the author and felt guilty, but then we discovered it was a debut novel, and so we felt justified. So, first of all, let’s start by complimenting the publisher for a spot-on graphic design. The story is about Isa M., a young student from Turin who organizes a...
“FRIDAY RE-VERSO” “You don’t notice love, because it begins when it has already begun..“ If we had read this book at 17, we would have done so with anger and a yearning for revolution; today we read it with melancholy, but beneath the ashes, the revolution still blazes. What has De André always done if not tell us small stories, with little explanation, that prod dormant senses, like that of justice, of humility? Most...
I liked the idea of starting the story of Lucy by the Sea with a rather bizarre image: ping-pong balls crashing into each other. In one passage of the novel, the protagonist recalls a film she saw at school as a girl, focusing in particular on the opening scene: many ping-pong balls bouncing against a blue background, colliding with each other, then separating and returning to their original positions, until they reach a moment of...
“If he knew how much I love him, he would be scared.” Take an afternoon and immerse yourself in this story. A gift to yourself, like a long-deserved treat, but never received. The book begins with the same flavor as Donna Tarrt’s “God of Illusions”: university life, young students passionate about literature, a special gathering where they can live out their passion. Young students with a whole life to invent, who mean business. A hint...
“My side of the story? The only one that matters.” There are books that make you fall in love at first reading, others where love blossoms over time, and finally those where the spark never ignites, without any precise rules. This book falls into the latter category, but it could be a matter of taste, or of the right chemistry, which perhaps another reader might find. We don’t know how much of this was the...
