Can you hear me?: A viciously gripping holiday read set during a scorching Italian summer

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'A BEAUTIFUL, STARK, POIGNANT ACCOUNT OF FEAR, LOVE AND LOSS' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths (Bailey's Women Prize for Fiction 2017 Longlist) 'A WORLD OF SUSPENSE A LA HITCHCOCK' Gaia Servadio | 'THE BEST ITALIAN NOVEL OF THE YEAR' Fabio Geda, author of In The Sea There Are Crocodiles | 'A BOOK TO GET LOST IN' Paolo Giordano, author of The Solitude of Prime Numbers | 'ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, INTENSE AND ORIGINAL BOOKS I HAVE ENCOUNTERED IN MY LIFE' Huffington Post Italy 'I knew nothing, back then, of the ways in which love can show itself, of the force with which it can push us into a corner and take our breath away' 1978. Ponte, a small community in Northern Italy: peaceful woods, discarded rubbish, a closed-down factory. An unbearably hot summer like many others, wilted flowers and trips to the waterfalls. Elia Furenti is sixteen, living in a secluded house with his parents, a life so unremarkable that even its moderate unhappiness has been accepted as normal. That is until the day the beautiful, damaged Anna returns to Ponte and firmly propels Elia to the edge of adulthood. But then everything starts to unravel. Elia's father, Ettore, is let go from his job and loses himself in the darkest corners of his mind, spending day after day plotting his revenge. A young boy is murdered, shaking the small community to its core. And a girl climbs into a van and vanishes in the deep, dark woods... Translated from Italian by Alex Valente.

ELENA VARVELLO was born in Turin, Italy, in 1971. She has published two collections of poetry, Perseveranza e salutare and Atlanti, a collection of short stories, L'economia delle cose (nominated for the Premio Strega, the Italian equivalent of the Man Booker Prize), and a novel, La luce perfetta del giorno. She teaches Creative Writing at the Scuola Holden in Turin. Can you hear me? is her first novel to be published in English. ALEX VALENTE is a European half-Yorkshire, half-Tuscan freelance translator. He has researched comics, poetry, and their translation, edits the Arts section of the Norwich Radical, regularly translates for Booksinitaly.com, and does voluntary work for non-profit organisations. He's on Twitter as @DrFumetts.

Reading Can you hear me? is like being swept away by a powerful current. The best Italian novel of the year. - Fabio Geda, internationally bestselling author of IN THE SEA THERE ARE CROCODILES One of the best Italian novels of 2016. A book that doesn't shy away from pain - it shines a light on it. And it does so beautifully, page by page. - Alessandro Baricco, internationally bestselling author of SILK Halfway between noir and coming-of-age, Can you hear me? is an utterly original new type of novel. I read it in two sittings, and I'm sure it will stay with me for a long time. - Maria Lomunno, Foyles Bookseller A noir that reminded me of great Italian literature: the atmosphere I found in Niccolo Ammaniti's I'm not scared, mixed with the images that someone like Bassani can create with such accuracy... I can't even tell you how excited I am to finally talk about it with customers and colleagues - Dafne Martino, Waterstones bookseller A dark and painful novel, constructed with great wisdom and written with rare restraint. - Nicola Lagioia, author of FEROCITY, winner of the Strega Prize 2015 Varvello has written both a noir and a coming-of-age novel that is in some ways reminiscent of Niccolo Ammaniti's I'm Not Scared... Varvello reveals the widening cracks slowly, perceptively, as one family scene unfurls from another, telling the story through omissions that become enigmas. - Il Messaggero Can you hear me? is one of the most beautiful, intense and original books I have encountered in my life... A beautifully written book, that brings to mind Cormac McCarthy. - Huffington Post Italy It brought back to mind Elsa Morante's Arturo's Island, and those classics with the ability to capture the abyss of adolescence, authors like Moravia and Bassani. This novel will grab you instantly and force you to read with a growing sense of panic, something tight in your throat: like a noir of ordinary life, bloodless and thus even more ruthless - La Stampa