Ferocity

A family wrecked by patriarchal stranglehold; a daughter who both defends and defies her father; and the deep rottenness of a society that bends low to power...make this work biting social commentary as well as edge-of-seat reading...A rich and readable cautionary tale for strong-minded readers. -Library Journal, starred review A mesmerizing exploration of failure, resilience, and profound, multifaceted loss. -Kirkus This oblique kaleidoscopic approach allows the mystery to slowly and captivatingly resolve while offering a layered portrait of contemporary Italian life and the abuses of power that money can excuse. -Publishers Weekly Complex, darkly absorbing and mysterious literary fiction [...] Lagioia's prose-in Shugaar's translation-depicts a family living far from the ease it projects; loyalties and betrayals painted in shades of gray; and a violently alive setting that plays off its characters. -Booklist A deeply satisfying read all its own...A page-turner, sure, but smart, smart, smart. -Words Without Borders [I]ntricately planned...renders moral and political corruption's rampant and universal prevalence. -BOMB magazine This sumptuous (prose) (...) quickly wields allegory, social realism, domestic drama, and myth to create a layered and expansive novel. -Chicago Review of Books A work of startling energy and structural precision, an ambitious novel whose linguistic brilliance is frequently at odds with the twists and turns of Michele's quest for the truth. -Financial Times [Ferocity] ticks all the boxes of a thriller while also being a masterfully written, baroque, many-faceted depiction of modern Italy. -The Spectator Ferocity is a portrait of a family tragedy, but also at its heart explores two competing visions of humanity: one ferocious and deterministic, the other transcendent and free-willed. -The Guardian Lagioia writes vividly and conjures up an atmosphere of menace with great skill. -The Mail on Sunday Lagioia is one of the most interesting Italian authors alive today. -Michele De Mieri, Domenica del Sole 24 Ore Lagioia brilliantly demonstrates the folly of his characters: rather than describing them from the outside, he constructs his narrative by oscillating unceasingly between past and future, premonition and regret. -Emanuele Trevi, Corriere della Sera A story about family, about wealth, about Italians, about a humanity that is obscenely spent and confounded. A powerful, supremely well-crafted novel. -Goffredo Fofi, Internazionale There's something Balzacian about Ferocity (and something that puts one in mind of Franzen's The Corrections). It digs beneath current events, inhabiting a zone that is more opaque and ambiguous than the nightly news. -Paolo di Paolo, TuttoLibri Nicola Lagioia's latest novel opens with a scene that is hypnotically, devastatingly beautiful. -Massimo Onofri, Avvenire This novel reminds one of the Greek tragedies and those ineluctable questions about the relationship between choice and destiny. -Luca Illetterati, Alias