Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Donatella Di Pietrantonio

A Girl Returned

Cover: A Girl Returned - Donatella Di Pietrantonio

Donatella Di Pietrantonio

A Girl Returned

2019, pp. 176, e-Book
ISBN: 9781609455293
Translated by: Ann Goldstein
Region: Italy
Paper edition Paper edition Paper edition
$ 10.99
READ NOW READ NOW READ NOW

The book

WINNER OF THE CAMPIELLO PRIZE

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 TRANSLATED BOOK AWARDS

A 2019 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
(Kirkus ReviewsWashington PostDallas Morning News)

A pitch-perfect rendering in English by Ann Goldstein, Elena Ferrante’s translator.

“I was the Arminuta, the girl returned. I spoke another language, I no longer knew who I belonged to. The word ‘mama’ stuck in my throat like a toad. And, nowadays, I really have no idea what kind of place mother is. It is not mine in the way one might have good health, a safe place, certainty.”

Told with an immediacy and a rare expressive intensity that has earned it countless adoring readers and one of Italy’s most prestigious literary prizes, A Girl Returned is a powerful novel rendered with sensitivity and verve by Ann Goldstein, translator of the works of Elena Ferrante. Set against the stark, beautiful landscape of Abruzzo in central Italy, this is a compelling story about mothers and daughters, about responsibility, siblings, and caregiving.

Without warning or explanation, an unnamed 13-year-old girl is sent away from the family she has always thought of as hers to live with her birth family: a large, chaotic assortment of individuals whom she has never met and who seem anything but welcoming. Thus begins a new life, one of struggle, tension, and conflict, especially between the young girl and her mother. But in her relationship with Adriana and Vincenzo, two of her newly acquired siblings, she will find the strength to start again and to build a new and enduring sense of self.

The author

Donatella Di Pietrantonio
Donatella Di Pietrantonio lives in Penne, Abruzzo. Her short fiction has been published by Granta Italy, and her novel, Bella mia, was nominated for the Strega Prize and won the Brancati Prize. A Girl Returned, her third novel, won the Campiello Prize. A Sister’s Story was a finalist for the 2021 Strega Prize.

Press

From the same country

  • Cover: The Malcontents - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Malcontents

    2025, pp. 480, $ 25.00
    There is a village carved into the rock of the Maremma hinterland in Tuscany and its name is Le Case. A dying country. A provincial trap. A microcosm...
  • Cover: The Other Profile - Irene Graziosi

    Irene Graziosi

    The Other Profile

    2025, pp. 208, $ 17.95
    A story of a conflicted friendship and its unraveling, told against the background of an ever-present, mind-twisting social media-verse
  • Cover: The Bishop’s Villa - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Bishop’s Villa

    2024, pp. 192, $ 28.00
    From the best-selling author of Nives, a story of love, redemption, and resistance set in Italy during WWII
  • Cover: The Passenger: Naples - AA.VV.

    AA.VV.

    The Passenger: Naples

    2024, pp. 192, $ 22.00
    Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world.    IN THIS VOLUME:...
  • Cover: The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan - Domenico Starnone

    Domenico Starnone

    The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan

    2024, pp. 144, $ 18.00
    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...
  • Cover: Moving the Moon: A Night at the Acropolis Museum - Andrea Marcolongo

    Andrea Marcolongo

    Moving the Moon: A Night at the Acropolis Museum

    2024, pp. 144, $ 22.00
    From one of Europe’s most original and brilliant classicists, an inspiring and deeply personal reflection on loss, memory, and what we owe the past...

More suggestions

  • Cover: The Colony - Annika Norlin

    Annika Norlin

    The Colony

    2025, pp. 464, $ 19.00
    A mega best-seller in Sweden, with rights sold to over a dozen countries and a TV adaptation underway, Annika Norlin’s debut novel The Colony...
  • Cover: The Tokyo Suite - Giovana Madalosso

    Giovana Madalosso

    The Tokyo Suite

    2025, pp. 208, $ 17.00
    The English-language debut of one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Brazilian literature, The   Tokyo Suite is a gripping exploration...
  • Cover: The Café with No Name - Robert Seethaler

    Robert Seethaler

    The Café with No Name

    2025, pp. 208, $ 25.00
    From one of Austria’s most beloved and best-selling authors, comes this vibrant tale of love, companionship, and renewal set against the transformations...
  • Cover: The Malcontents - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Malcontents

    2025, pp. 480, $ 25.00
    There is a village carved into the rock of the Maremma hinterland in Tuscany and its name is Le Case. A dying country. A provincial trap. A microcosm...
  • Cover: A Calamity of Noble Houses - Amira Ghenim

    Amira Ghenim

    A Calamity of Noble Houses

    2025, pp. 432, $ 28.00
    A finalist for the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, a compelling saga of two families that illuminates the lives of women in modern...
  • Cover: The Other Profile - Irene Graziosi

    Irene Graziosi

    The Other Profile

    2025, pp. 208, $ 17.95
    A story of a conflicted friendship and its unraveling, told against the background of an ever-present, mind-twisting social media-verse

Join Our Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!

Stay updated on Europa’s forthcoming releases, author tours and major news.

Are you a bookseller? Click here!

Are you a librarian? Click here!

X