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Longlisted for Premio Viareggio 2020.From the author of the bestselling book Addio Fantasmi, shortlisted for Premio Strega 2019.

An authentic portrait of Rome, a profound reflection on identity and on sentimental uprooting, seen from the eyes of the underprivileged living in the capital.

Getting lost in Rome… A murder in Termini, a Hebrew class in the Ghetto, a hairdresser in Casalbertone, women and men watching the mystery of the capital from a window. A portrait of the eternal city, full of love and irony towards a quietly unhappy city. Just like the protagonists of the book. Just like every love story, Rome needs its own private language to make it secret, to make you feel like it\’s truly yours. Nadia Terranova’s characters are torn, on the threshold of change, frozen in a memory. They wait to be free, they imagine their desired lives in the eyes of others, they question existence using a language they don’t know and they sometimes find out that happiness could be but a sight defect – and that sometimes you need to lose your way in order to live to the fullest.


Nadia Terranova was born in Messina and now lives in Rome. Einaudi has published her novels Gli anni al contrario (2015, winner of many prizes including Bagutta Opera Prima and Brancati) and Addio fantasmi (2018, finalist Premio Strega). She has also written several children’s books, including Bruno il bambino che imparò a volare (2012), Casca il mondo (2016) and Omero è stato qui (2019). She writes for “La Repubblica” and other papers.

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