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Hailed by The New York Times as "a natural-born storyteller," the acclaimed author of Rules of the Wild gives us nine incandescently smart stories, funny, elegant, and poignant by turns, that explore the power of change - in relationships, in geographies, and across cultures - to reveal unexpected aspects of ourselves.
Taking us to Venice during film festival season, where a woman buys a Chanel dress she can barely afford; to a sun-drenched Greek village at the height of the summer holidays, where a teenager encounters the shocks of first love; and to a classical dance community in southern India, where a couple gives in to the urge to wander, these remarkable tales bring to life characters stepping outside their boundaries into new passions and destinies. Enlivened by Francesca Marciano's wit, clear eye, and stunning evocations of people and places, The Other Language is an enthralling tour de force rich with many pleasures.
"Starred Review. Lovely... Each of Marciano's nine closely observed stories of growing up, dislocation and family relationships is a gem, with fully realized characters wistfully and beautifully captured through dialogue that is both pensive and poignant." - Kirkus
"[A] a pleasurable sojourn with characters Marciano depicts as simultaneously likable and irritating, bold and retiring, types and individuals - not unlike those reading about them." - Publishers Weekly
"This is an astonishing collection. Marciano's characters are caught between the coming and going, unable to call any one place home. They struggle with self-definition. They seek re-invention. Impulsive characters, portrayed in moments of juncture, in moments of crisis, in a series of indelible scenes." - Gary Shteyngart
"This outstanding book has a quality I find only in the best short-story collections: that, after each chapter, I cannot immediately flip to the next, but need time to absorb what has just unfolded so memorably before me. Francesca Marciano is a superb storyteller." - Tom Rachman, author of The Imperfectionists
"I loved every single one of these affecting, suspenseful, and sublimely crafted stories - the best new collection I've read in years." - Julia Glass
This information about The Other Language was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo credit: Laura Sciacovelli
Francesca Marciano is an Italian screenwriter, novelist and actress. Her works include, The End of Manners, Casa Rossa, Rules of the Wild and The Other Language. Casa Rossa won the Rapallo Carige prize for women writers in 2003.
She is also a documentary filmmaker and divides her time between Rome and Kenya.
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