Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Alessandro Piperno

Persecution

Cover: Persecution - Alessandro Piperno

Alessandro Piperno

Persecution

2012, pp. 416, e-Book
ISBN: 9781787701182
Translated by: Ann Goldstein
Region: Italy
Paper Paper Paper
£ 9.99
Where to buy Where to buy Where to buy

The book

In a sprawling villa on the outskirts of Rome, the members of the Pontecorvo family have gathered for dinner. Leo Pontecorvo, an internationally revered pediatric oncologist, is forty-eight. His wife, Rachel, is a physician and the loving mother to Filippo and Samuel, two amiable pre-teens. The evening news is on in the living room but nobody pays it any attention until Dr. Pontecorvo's name surfaces from the background noise and a news item airs that will change the lives of the Pontecorvos forever. Leo Pontecorvo has been publicly accused of a vile crime. A spotlight is turned on him that reveals the mistakes, regrets, and contradictions of a lifetime. Every detail of his private and professional life is about to come under scrutiny, to be debated by both friends and foes, by ravenous reporters and punctilious prosecutors. But Leo could bear all this if it weren't for the suspicious gazes of his wife and children. Surely they, of all people, believe in his innocence! Alessandro Piperno is widely acknowledged as one of today's most talented European novelists. His voice is singular and shocking at times, yet always possessed of tenderness and enormous generosity of heart. His vision is broad and encompassing, his psychological insights penetrating and undeniable. In this deeply felt family drama, Alessandro Piperno paints a broad canvas and fills it with psychologically complex characters whom readers will instantly recognize and never forget.

The author

Alessandro Piperno
Alessandro Piperno was born in Rome in 1972. His 2005 novel, The Worst Intentions, won the Campiello Prize for First Novel and became an instant bestseller in Italy, where Corriere della sera described its author as “a new Marcel Proust.” The New Yorker wrote that The Worst Intentions was a “wickedly scathing début, a coruscating mixture of satire, family epic, Proustian meditation, and erotomaniacal farce.” Piperno is the author of two works of non-fiction. Persecution, the first installment of a diptych entitled The Friendly Fire of Memories, is his long-awaited second novel.    

Reviews

Books by region

  • Cover: The House of Gazes - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The House of Gazes

    2024, pp. 224, £ 14.99
    A powerful coming-of-age story about loss, identity, and rebirth.
  • Cover: The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan - Domenico Starnone

    Domenico Starnone

    The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan

    2024, pp. 144, £ 14.99
    An enchanting story, in the unique voice of one of Italy’s greatest contemporary writers.
  • Cover: The Passenger: Naples - AA.VV.

    AA.VV.

    The Passenger: Naples

    2024, pp. 192, £ 18.99
    For better or worse, Naples always amazes.
  • Cover: Shifting the Moon from its Orbit - Andrea Marcolongo

    Andrea Marcolongo

    Shifting the Moon from its Orbit

    2024, pp. 144, £ 13.99
    A reflection on loss, memory, and what we owe to the past, inspired by a night spent in Athens’ Acropolis Museum.
  • Cover: The Throne - Franco Bernini

    Franco Bernini

    The Throne

    2024, pp. 384, £ 14.99
    Machiavelli is famous the world over, but who was he before he penned The Prince?
  • Cover: The Art of Running: From Marathon to Athens on Winged Feet - Andrea Marcolongo

    Andrea Marcolongo

    The Art of Running: From Marathon to Athens on Winged Feet

    2024, pp. 192, £ 12.99
    A fresh, accessible approach on the classics and their wisdom from one of Europe’s most original and compelling scholars of ancient Greece and Rome...