Arturo's Island: A Novel (Italia Series) [Paperback]

Elsa Morante (Author), Isabel Quigley (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1586420410 | ISBN-13: 978-1586420413 | Publication Date: June 1, 1998 | Edition: 1

ON A SMALL ISLAND in the Tyrrhenian Sea there lives a boy as innocent as a seabird. Arturo's mother is dead; his father away. Black-clad women care for him, give him the freedom to come and go as he likes. Then the father returns with a new wife, Nunziata, a girl barely older than Arturo. At first hatred and contempt are all the boy feels for his stepmother. In time, Arturo and Nunziata re-create the tragedy and passion that are as old as the history of men and women.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Morante's 1957 novel tells the story of Arturo, an Italian boy who lives alone on his father's island where he is cared for by a staff of black-clad women. When the boy reaches his early teens, his father returns with a new bride, a girl only a few years older than Arturo himself. His world is redefined by the appearance of this stepmother, whom, initially, he despises. She soon wins him over, and Arturo finds himself attracted to her perhaps too much. A fine literary soap opera.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Arturo's Island is the second of ELSA MORANTE'S four novels. Her renowned novel about World War II, History, is also available from Steerforth.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Zoland Books; 1 edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586420410
• ISBN-13: 978-1586420413
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,434,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece by one of Italy's finest writers, March 23, 2010

By 

Wanda S. "Viva Morante" (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arturo's Island: A Novel (Italia Series) (Paperback)

L'isola di Arturo, Arturo's Island, is Elsa Morante's second novel. Published in Italy in 1957, it was very successful at the time, and has since become a classic, taught in schools and widely read.
Arturo's initiation to the tragedies and mediocrities of adulthood is contained within the geographical space of a beautiful Southern island, Procida, where he is born and raised. His wayward (in more than one meaning) father appears and disappears from the son's world. Each time he returns to Procida, he brings back from the continent fables, news of the 'real world', and, in one instance, a new wife (Arturo's mother died giving birth to him). "Arturo's island" is a cruel, yet spell-binding, fable on the enchantment of childhood and on the moment in which our life tips into adulthood. By the time you get to the end of the book, you'll wish you could go back to the beginning and start Arturo's - and your own- life all over again. A masterpiece.

1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The movie seemed better - but perhaps I misremember, March 28, 2008

By 

Wesley Clark (Springfield, Virginia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Arturo's Island: A Novel (Italia Series) (Paperback)

I recall seeing the 1962 filmed version of this watching late night TV with my father back when I was thirteen or so. I haven't seen the film since then, but I remember it being very provocative and moody. Sort of like "The Summer of '42." Or maybe it was just my hormones.

(I also recall seeing Sophia Loren in "Madame Sans Gene" with the Old Man. La Loren was wearing a peasant blouse and helping Napoleon's soldiers to shove a cannon into place. Whew. THAT I remember well.)

But it's the book that's under consideration here. Frankly, I found it a bit disappointing. Whereas the film suggested things, the book states them outright - which is poorer, I think.

Anyway... disappointing. See the film, if you can. (It hasn't been released, but I understand that it has played on TCM.)