A novel about marriage, family, and the consequences of one’s actions upon both, translated by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri

They married young. They were in love and desired independence from their families. As middle-age and family obligations set in and the world changed around them, their marital vows seemed to lose their meaning. When he left, she felt gripped by impotent rage; she burned with questions that had no answer. He moved to Rome and met a younger woman. She stayed with the kids in Naples, a city from which she felt a growing estrangement.
But the inescapable ties that bind us can be tenacious, stronger even than both the wounds inflicted by abandonment and the desire for freedom. But can betrayal ever be swept under the carpet? Is it possible to retrace one’s steps and regain what was lost? If so, at what price?
With the keen perceptiveness of John Updike and the raw honesty of Elena Ferrante, Domenico Starnone gives his readers a powerful short novel about the ties that bind, and mark us indelibly.

Domenico Starnone
Domenico Starnone was born in Naples and lives in Rome. He is the author of thirteen works of fiction, including First Execution (Europa, 2009), Via Gemito, winner of Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, the Strega, and Ties (Europa, 2017), a New York Times Editors’ Pick, and The Sunday Times’ best novel in translation of 2017.

• Dec 29 2017
  Best books of 2017: indie publishers on their favourite books of the year
  — The Guardian
• Nov 27 2017
  Books of the year: Fiction
  — The Sunday Times
• Nov 23 2017
  100 Notable Books of 2017
  — The New York Times
• Nov 14 2017
  BEST FICTION OF 2017
  — Kirkus Reviews
• Oct 5 2017
  Italian Authors in Search of Identity, Part II
  — Bookwitty
• Jul 18 2017
  Stiliana Milkova reviews Ties by Domenico Starnone
  — Asymptote