A witty, tender love story about a 26-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy. Never sensational, the prose delights and the story captivates. Published in Italy last year, Montrucchio recently won Italy's prestigious Calvino Prize for her work.
"Tragedy is not when you can't be yourself. It's when being yourself only meansbeing what other people want."
At the age of twenty-six are you grown up or not? Four friends, these "Charlie's Angels", go to the gym to rid their soul of the poison of routine. And there, Stefania meets Stefano ? Stefano, whom she calls Tendina, with his long and delicate neck, who g ives off the scent of sandalwood. Tender as someone her own age, shy and awkward, but loyal, genuine and irresistible. And why should she resist anyway? A relationship between a fifteen-year-old and a twenty-six-year-old is hardly ridiculous, it's not eve n a case of paedophilia. It's a relationship, that's all.
The superb English translation is by Sharon Wood.
