A Cloud on Sand [Hardcover]

Gabriella De Ferrari (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1990

First-time novelist Gabriella De Ferrari's A Cloud on Sand succeeds in giving its audience quality fiction combined with international flair and historical insight. Entertainment Weekly called it "a quietly enthralling masterpiece." Film rights optioned by Martin Scorsese.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in pre-WW II Italy and wartime South America, this work of psychological realism tells of the bizarre enchantments touching--and sometimes ruling--human lives. Antonia's mother--the amoral, supremely stylish Dora--lives in an imposing villa built at her request in a seedy section of Artemisia, a small town near Genoa, by a husband who spends most of his time in Argentina. In Artemisia, where Dora grew up poor, she lords it over relatives, neglects Antonia and son Marco, amasses lovers and rare coins, loses servants. One of Dora's conquests, Count Emilio Mora, comes to serve as a surrogate father to the children, installing them in Catholic boarding schools. Both end up in South America--Marco, until he is duped and murdered, running his dead father's Argentinian business, and Antonia as the bride of an Italian living in Yayaku, a Basque-like country north of Chile. Compelled by a tragic sense of fate, De Ferrari's characters are visited by alarming dreams--and in their sleeping and waking hours observe many strange things, from witches to men who melt. The first novelist's impressive control of these uncanny powers in a basically realistic context will suggest comparisons with Marquez, although De Ferrari is in no sense an imitator. 40,000 first printing.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Soon to be a film directed by Martin Scorsese, this first novel is set in Italy and South America in a period ranging from the 1920s until the end of World War II. In memoir form it tells the story of Antonia, a timid girl lacking role models, whose determined development into successful adulthood astounds those who know her. The rich cast of characters includes Dora, the bizarre, tyrannical mother; Arturo, the loving, understanding husband; and Count Moro, the elegant, artistic family friend who is more like family to Antonia than her real family. A child trapped in a psychological wasteland, Antonia breaks free to reorient her life successfully, finally standing on her own two feet. Recommended.
- Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 323 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (March 17, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394551451
• ISBN-13: 978-0394551456
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,933,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent, January 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Cloud on Sand (Paperback)

This beautifully written novel deserves a wider audience. It has many things going for it: wonderful character development, a sweeping plot that captures you, and it's setting in several countries outside the United States just increases the appeal and flavor. It is worth your time. It deserves to be discovered by more readers!

1.0 out of 5 stars Send it back, October 3, 2011

By 

Janet Hofer (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cloud on Sand (Paperback)

I attempted to read this book many years ago when it first came out, and I just couldn't get through it. I made it about half way and gave up. It's vague, confusing, and jumps around in time. It's hard to tell which plot to follow. Please just give me something straightforward that makes sense!