Ties
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4.1 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The Strega Award–winning Italian author’s “scalding and incisive” novel of marriage and family bonds that come undone in the wake of an affair (Library Journal, starred review).
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Sunday Times and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
Winner of the 2015 Bridge Prize for Best Novel
Italy, 1970s. Like many marriages, Vanda and Aldo’s has been subject to strain, attrition, and the burden of routine. Yet it has survived intact. Or so things appear. The rupture in their marriage lies years in the past, but if one looks closely enough, the fissures and fault lines are evident. It is a cracked vase that may shatter at the slightest touch. Or perhaps it has already shattered, and nobody is willing to acknowledge the fact.
Domenico Starnone’s thirteenth work of fiction is a powerful short novel about relationships, family, love, and the ineluctable consequences of one’s actions. Known as a consummate stylist and beloved as a talented storyteller, Domenico Starnone is the winner of Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the Strega.
“The leanest, most understated and emotionally powerful novel by Domenico Starnone.” —The New York Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"In case it's slipped your mind, Dear Sir, let me remind you: I am your wife." Vanda writes this to her husband, Aldo, who hasn't come home for six days. It's Naples, 1974, and Aldo and Vanda married young, and now, when intellectuals have decided that "fidelity is a virtue of the petty bourgeoisie," they're stuck. Or she is: Aldo has found love and happiness, and stays gone for four years. We learn that in the second section of the book, its longest, narrated by Aldo after the apartment he and Vanda share has been broken into and trashed, their beloved cat disappeared. Although they reunited decades ago, Vanda and Aldo are still furious, and as he sorts through his demolished possessions, Aldo tells his side of the affair. The problem is that he tells and tells, displaying little self-awareness and seemingly expecting sympathy he may not have earned. Anna, Vanda and Aldo's daughter, middle-aged and scarred, like her feckless brother, by the breakup and the resumed marriage, is no picnic either angry, manipulative, greedy. Though Starnone's willingness to let his characters particularly Aldo incriminate themselves can be read as writerly confidence, the novel, despite being slim, feels long.
