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| (Thank you Other Press for providing me with a copy of this book!) |
about book:
Kidnapped by her troubled father, a young girl navigates life on a road trip across 1980s Italy in this stunning, cinematic English-language debut.
One day in May 1980, 8-year-old Ilaria gets into her father’s car after school. As they stop at a series of highway hotels, traversing the north of Italy, the child thinks of her mother and promises herself not to cry anymore. She learns to drive and to lie, discovers Trieste, Bologna, a boarding school in Rome, a sunny rural life in Sicily.
Thanks to the games they play, the hit songs they sing at the tops of their voices on the road, and the kind people Ilaria meets along the way, the kidnapping almost seems like a normal childhood. But her father drinks too much, nervous in a cloud of cigarette smoke. If he takes her by the hand, she thinks it’s better not to pull it away. Ilaria observes and feels everything.
In gripping, precise prose, this poignant novel takes us inside the mind of a little girl who must grow up on her own.
my thoughts:
A captivating story that sweeps you away, Ilaria by Gabriella Zalapi, is an unputdownable story. I gobbled it up one go and could not stop thinking about it long after.
A little girl is waiting after school when she gets kidnapped by her father. He takes her from city to city, calling her mom from phone booths, and behaving erratically. All the while, Ilaria isn't sure what exactly is happening, except that the longer she is away from home the less she remembers her mom and sister. Talk about a bad road trip. I don't what to share much else, because the story is short and packs quite the punch. Plus, you'll want to experience all the family drama and lost childhood years for yourself - it's riveting. Zalapi has written an emotional and mesmerizing book - you are going to LOVE it! Make sure to grab a copy.
Thank you Other Press for providing me with a copy of this book!
