A House in Sicily by Luisa Adorno

A sun soaked, hilarious mediation on family life in mid-century Italy – and one of the most exciting rediscovered classics in years. During WWII, a young Tuscan woman falls in love with a man from the rural depths of southern Italy. As the conflict finally draws to a close, the two travel from Rome to finally meet with his family.

But very quickly a dawning realisation breaks: her in-laws and their friends are eccentric in the extreme. They barely leave the house and they rarely speak to their son, fretting instead about their ‘daughter’ – a loud little dog – and worrying constantly, incessantly, about the weather. And, worst of all, they speak with a nostalgic warmth about the region’s recently overthrown fascist regime…

Translated by Ann Goldstein, the world-renowned translator of Elena Ferrante, A House in Sicily is a brilliantly funny, razor sharp examination of family life in the shadow of the darkest period of modern Italian history, and the most exciting rediscovered European classic in decades.

Format:Paperback / softback 224 pages
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint:Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN:9781405973908
Published:14 May 2026
Classifications:Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction in translation
Weight:236g
Dimensions:215 x 137 x 20 (mm)