The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan

Children can be cruel, and children can love as passionately as adults, more so at times. When these two facts combine and ignite the imagination of Italy's greatest contemporary novelist, extraordinary, unexpected things can come of it. Like this seemingly simply novel that bellies remarkable psychological depths and infinite degrees of enchantment.

Imagine a child, a daydreamer, one of those boys who is always gazing out windows. His adoring grandmother, busy in the kitchen, keeps an eye on him. The child stares at a balcony on the opposite building, watching ablack-haired girl as she dances a reckless, dangerous dance. He is in love. And a love like this can push a child to extremes. He can become an explorer or a cabin boy, a cowboy or castaway; he can fight duels to the death, or even master unfamiliar languages. His grandmother has told him about the entrance to the underworld, and he knows the story of Orpheus's failed rescue mission. Stupid man, the boy thinks. He could do better, he could bring that dark-haired up from the underground. If only he had the chance.

The moment during childhood in which both love and death are revealed is portrayed to perfection in this latest novel by the Strega Prize-winning Italian novelist, Domenico Starnone, whose books are sharp as tacks, quick to read, and impossible to forget.