Giuseppe is leaving his flat in the city of Rome, where he has lived for more than twenty years, to go and live with his brother in America. He must say goodbye to his cousin Roberta; to his former lover Lucrezia and her husband Piero; and to all his friends who used to gather for week¬ends at Le Margherite, Lucrezia’s splendid house in the country. But even before Giuseppe’s departure, friendships have begun to fracture as frus¬trated yearnings and past infidelities strain the bonds.
The sale of Le Margherite marks the end of an era and its old inhabitants and vistors are left to pursue happiness on their own. Their stories unfold through an exchange of letters that reveal with great poignancy the thoughts, passions and desires of the protaganists.
‘Ginzburg’s beautiful words have such solidarity. I read her with joy and amazement.’ Tessa Hadley
‘Speaking for myself, as a reader, as a writer and as a human being, her work has touched and transformed my life. I hope that you might give it the opportunity to do the same to yours.’ Sally Rooney
‘In her finely drawn world, people are multidimensional, situations are often unpredictable, and nothing is ever as clear cut as we might hope it to be.’ Kat Lister, i
‘One of the great Italian writers of the 20th Century…[her] books snare so much of what is odd and lovely and fleeting in the world.’ Parul Sehgal, New York Times
‘Her prose style is deceptively simple and very complex. Its effect on the reader is both calming and thrilling – that’s not so easy to do.’ Deborah Levy
‘Ginzburg’s writing is so nimble and light . . . that it can slide quickly into darkness.’ Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Natalia Ginzburg (1916–1991) was born in Palermo, Sicily. She wrote dozens of essays, plays, short stories and novels, including All Our Yesterdays, Voices in the Evening and Family Lexicon, for which she was awarded the prestigious Strega Prize in 1963. She was involved in politi¬cal activism throughout her life and served in the Italian parliament between 1983 to 1987.
