A Sister's Story - by Donatella Di Pietrantonio (Paperback)

About the Book

"It's the darkest time of night. Adriana, a baby in her arms, hammers on her sister's door. Who is she running from? What uncomfortable truth is she carrying with her? Like a whirlwind, Adriana upends her sister's life bringing chaos and cataclysmic revelations. Years later, the narrator gets an unexpected, urgent summons back to Pescara, her hometown. She embarks on a long journey through the night, and through the folds and twists of her memory, from her and her sister's youth, their loves and losses, secrets and regrets. Back in Borgo Sud, the town's fishermen's quarter, in that impenetrable yet welcoming microcosm, she will discover what really happened, and attempt to make peace with the past. Donatella Di Pietrantonio, expert chronicler of the bonds between mothers and daughters, revisits the places and characters of A Girl Returned with a moving novel focused on the ambivalent, ambiguous, wavering but steadfast relationship between sisters."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2022
FINALIST FOR THE 2021 STREGA PRIZE

From the internationally acclaimed author of A Girl Returned, a spellbinding story about family, memory, love, and the relationships that define us.

It's the darkest time of night. Adriana, a baby in her arms, hammers on her sister's door. Who is she running from? What uncomfortable truth is she carrying with her? Like a whirlwind, Adriana upends her sister's life bringing chaos and cataclysmic revelations.

Years later, the narrator gets an unexpected, urgent summons back to Pescara, her hometown. She embarks on a long journey through the night, and through the folds and twists of her memory, from her and her sister's youth, their loves and losses, secrets and regrets. Back in Borgo Sud, the town's fishermen's quarter, in that impenetrable yet welcoming microcosm, she will discover what really happened, and attempt to make peace with the past.

Donatella Di Pietrantonio, expert chronicler of the bonds between mothers and daughters, revisits the places and characters of A Girl Returned with a moving novel focused on the ambivalent, ambiguous, wavering but steadfast relationship between sisters.

Review Quotes

Praise for A Sister's Story

"Another simmering, intense novel of dysfunctional relationships and destructive secrets... Di Pietrantonio radiantly conjures small, piercing moments that linger between characters... Her sharp examinations haunt and illuminate, transforming the quotidian into the indelibly literary."--Shelf Awareness

"The talented team of prize-winning author Di Pietrantonio and translator Goldstein once again bring an immersion experience of Italian family and culture, a strong sense of place, and the intricacies and mysteries of intimate relationships in understated, vivid prose."--Booklist

"The sisters from the author's previous novel, A Girl Returned--a stoic narrator and her fiery younger sister, Adriana--reappear in this unsettling companion tale."--The New Yorker

"If you've devoured everything by Elena Ferrante, there's a good chance you'll like the work of Di Pietrantonio."--Literary Hub, A Most Anticipated Book of Spring 2022

"Intimate and sharp."--Il Foglio

"A true jewel."--Huffington Post (Italy)

"Sharp and incandescent... A Sister's Story unsettles and uplifts."--Critica Letteraria

"A Sister's Story carries the same message of the greatest Italian literature of the 20th century, from Elsa Morante to Primo Levi, a message at once tragic and hopeful--that, while suffering may be an inevitable part of life, we can choose not to let it define us."--la Repubblica

Praise for A Girl Returned

"Di Pietrantonio [has a] lively way with a phrase (the translator, Ann Goldstein, shows the same sensitivity she does with Elena Ferrante) [and] a fine instinct for detail."--The Washington Post

"An achingly beautiful book, and an utterly devastating one."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

★ "A gripping, deeply moving coming-of-age novel; immensely readable, beautifully written, and highly recommended."--Kirkus Review (Starred Review)

"Spellbinding."--Publishers Weekly

"A captivating tale about the trials of settling down, fitting in and battling on amid emotional upheaval."--The Economist

"Donatella Di Pietrantonio employs sensitive and powerful prose to tell the conflicting coming-of-age story of mothers and daughters, of sisterhood, and of self-discovery."--World Literature Today

"With unflinching perception, in A Girl Returned Di Pietrantonio presents a heartrending tale of a child discarded, never quite reclaimed."--Shelf Awareness

"Set against the rugged landscape of Abruzzo, Italy, A Girl Returned explores the arbitrariness of origin and family relationships, and questions whether we really belong anywhere."--New Statesman