Luigi Malerba Book order

After twenty years, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, but instead of receiving the homecoming he had hoped for finds himself caught in an intense battle of wills with his faithful and long-suffering wife Penelope. When Penelope recognizes him under the guise of a beggar, she becomes furious with him for not trusting her enough to include her in his plans for ridding the palace of the Suitors. As a result, she plays her own game of fictions to make him suffer for this lack of faith, inspiring jealousy, self-doubt, and misgivings in her husband, the legendary Homeric hero.   In this captivating retelling of the Odyssey, Penelope rises as a major force with whom to be reckoned. Shifting between first-person reflections, Ithaca Forever reveals the deeply personal and powerful perspectives of both wife and husband as they struggle for respect and supremacy within a marriage that has been on hold for twenty years. Translated by PEN award-winner Douglas Grant Heise, Luigi Malerba’s novel gives us a remarkable version of this greatest work of western literature: Odysseus as a man full of doubts and Penelope as a woman of great depth and strength.

Giano and Clarissa exemplify Rome's elite, navigating a marriage marked by love and infidelity. Giano, an architect and urban planning professor, seeks to restore the city’s beauty by dismantling modern constructions, while Clarissa explores Rome's streets in search of adventure. Their relationship, built on mutual deceit, faces external challenges that reflect the broader decay of the city they cherish and despise. As their marriage unravels, it symbolizes the struggles of contemporary urban life and the complexities of love and loyalty.