A Girl Returned
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
“One of the best Italian novels of the year” in a pitch-perfect rendering in English by Ann Goldstein, Elena Ferrante’s translator (Huffington Post, Italy). Winner of the Campiello Prize A 2019 Best Book of the Year (The Washington Post Kirkus Reviews Dallas Morning News) Told with an immediacy and a rare expressive intensity that has earned it countless adoring readers and one of Italy’s most prestigious literary prizes, A Girl Returned is a powerful novel rendered with sensitivity and verve by Ann Goldstein, translator of the works of Elena Ferrante. Set against the stark, beautiful landscape of Abruzzo in central Italy, this is a compelling story about mothers and daughters, about responsibility, siblings, and caregiving. Without warning or explanation, an unnamed thirteen-year-old girl is sent away from the family she has always thought of as hers to live with her birth family: a large, chaotic assortment of individuals whom she has never met and who seem anything but welcoming. Thus begins a new life, one of struggle, tension, and conflict, especially between the young girl and her mother. But in her relationship with Adriana and Vincenzo, two of her newly acquired siblings, she will find the strength to start again and to build a new and enduring sense of self. “An achingly beautiful book, and an utterly devastating one.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune “Di Pietrantonio [has a] lively way with a phrase (the translator, Ann Goldstein, shows the same sensitivity she does with Elena Ferrante) [and] a fine instinct for detail.” ?The Washington Post “A gripping, deeply moving coming-of-age novel; immensely readable, beautifully written, and highly recommended.” ?Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Captivating.” —The Economist
Reviews with the most likes.
A girl is returned to the family she didn't know she had. For a year she misses her old life, tries to understand what brought her here, and slowly warms up to her new siblings. She yearns for the motherly love she lost, cautiously encounters her new and real mother, yet failed by both, she finds the strongest and most realiable connection in the brave younger sister she only just met. For a short novella-length time you're back in a world similar to [a:Elena Ferrante 44085 Elena Ferrante https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] Neapolitan Novels. In an Italian town, where poverty and misogny reign, parents use their fists and never terms of endearment, and teachers need to fight for their smart pupils continued education.I very much enjoyed this and wouldn't have minded spending more time with our unnamed protagonist.
Beautiful book. The story is original and allows exploring many aspects of young life in a difficult environment. The author has a gift in being able to make you understand the deep personality of each character in just a few lines. The main problem with this book is that it is way too short and it stops in the middle of the story. I understand that there's is no need to continue the story forever, but in this case I believe that the story has been cut excessively short.
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