From the acclaimed author of The Interpreter of Maladies comes a sensual and evocative tribute to the Eternal City, with a series of delicately crafted stories that capture the diversity and richness of modern Roman life.
From the internationally bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Interpreter of Maladies comes an exquisitely crafted work of fiction. Jhumpa Lahiri sets her gaze on the eternally beautiful city, illuminating the frailties of the human condition and dissecting lives lived on the margins.
A man recalls a summer party that awakens an alternative version of himself. A couple haunted by a tragic loss return to seek consolation. An outsider family is pushed out of the block in which they hoped to settle. A set of steps in a Roman neighbourhood connects the daily lives of the city's myriad inhabitants. This is an evocative fresco of Rome, the most alluring character of all: contradictory, in constant transformation and a home to those who know they can't fully belong but choose it anyway.
Rich with Lahiri's signature gifts, Roman Stories is a masterful work from one of the finest writers of our time.
Translated from the Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri and Todd Portnowitz.
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781035017553
Number of pages: 224
Weight: 340 g
Dimensions: 224 x 143 x 28 mm
Lahiri [works] over her themes with a precise and controlling intellect . . . These stories are stimulating, elengant, distinctive and thought-provoking - Sunday Times
A writer of formidable powers and great depth of feeling - The Observer
One of the most interesting American writers at work today - The Sunday Times
Lahiri steps back from the action, gets out of the way, so the people and things in her stories can exist the way real things do: richly, ambiguously, without explanation. - Time
A writer of uncommon elegance and poise - The New York Times
Lahiri has a talent for capturing the everyday - Spectator
Jhumpa Lahiri is intelligent, astute, informed and genuine - The Irish Times
Jhumpa Lahiri is an elegant stylist, effortlessly placing the perfect words in the perfect order time and again so we’re transported seamlessly into another place - Vanity Fair
Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is wonderful in the literal sense: on every page there is something to take your breath away - Sainsbury's Magazine
Lahiri has an extraordinary voice - Salman Rushdie
Jhumpa Lahiri is the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person you see and say “Read this!” She’s a dazzling storyteller with a distinctive voice, an eye for nuance, an ear for irony. She is one of the finest short story writers I’ve read. - Amy Tan
An urgent and affecting portrait of Rome in nine stories . . . - Guardian
Full of humanity and its joys and disappointments, tiny incidents resonate through time and relationships. The city feels like another character, slipping in and out of focus just as the fleeting lives of the characters do too. - The Independent
‘Roman Stories’ and ‘Whereabouts’ are Lahiri’s Italian works, written in Italian and translated into English by the author herself. The short stories are peopled by nameless characters who are full of grief, longing... More
The author is new to me, but a quick internet search tells me that she’s London born, American raised but with Indian heritage. She moved to Rome around 2011 and fell in love with the city, and though work means that... More
3.5*
Billed as an evocative fresco of Rome, the most alluring character of all.....
Nameless people process through various scenarios, often outsiders, as they grapple with some of life's big questions....
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