From the late prize-winning Italian author Volponi (The Worldwide Machine, 1967, etc.), the first English translation of a novel written in 1974: a rich blend of political commentary and sexual farce set in 1969 Urbino. Chapters alternate between the story of aging anarchist lovers, Gaspare Subissoni and VivÇs Guardajal, and the young, naive, self-centered Count Oddo Oddi-Semproni, the darling of his two maiden aunts and the envy of his conniving chauffeur, Giocondini. After the terrorist bombing of a bank in Milan, the ailing VivÇs wants to go to Milan to seek out the truth behind the bombing and the subsequent arrest of an anarchist, but she dies before she can go. Meanwhile, the isolated Oddi-Sempronis are watching the bombing reports play out on TV and planning their various day trips with the help of Giocondini. The ambitious chauffeur wants Urbino to become an independent duchy with Count Oddo installed as the nominal overlord, while he, Giocondini, will wield the real power. A hilarious sequence ensues when the aunts dispatch Giocondini on a mission to make Oddo a man: At the first brothel, the priapic and well-endowed Oddo wows the adoring prostitutes and, in revenge, the offended Giocondini takes him to a decrepit brothel where Oddo encounters the love of his life, the maid Dirce, whom he brings back to the palace. But Dirce is unhappy and runs away, eventually taking refuge with the now-widowed Subissoni. As the search for the runaway bride commences, Giocondini believes his crafty plans will mesh with Subissoni's own wishes for an independent Urbino; instead the plot takes a surprising turn and ends on a tragic note. The politically complex- -and philosophy-laden—Subissoni narrative takes on a new power after VivÇs's death: The chapter detailing her cremation and Subissoni's utter loneliness is chilling and moving. Meanwhile, the dim-witted count and his family, described with amused irony, provide a droll counterpoint to the intensity of the anarchists' plotline. Demanding but ultimately rewarding fiction.
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-934977-33-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Italica Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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