General Fiction

Io non ti lascio solo

(I Won't Leave You Alone)

Adriano Salani Editore, January 2021, pp.288

 

Gianluca Antoni, the author of Io non ti lascio solo (Salani), has been awarded the Scaramuzza prize 2021, for the following reasons:

Gianluca Antoni’s book – Io non ti lascio solo – has won the prize because “we found his book by far the most impressive, from the unexpected, compelling ending – which focusses on the transition from childhood to adolescence – to the fear of growing up and facing grief. He explores children’s psychology and aptly conveys extraordinary emotions with the help of a very special narrative style”.

Two little boys, a great friendship, a secret kept for over thirty years.

 A tale that combines a coming-of-age novel and a detective story. It tells with the kind of delicacy and charm only fairy-tales have of the relationship between parents and children, grief and loss, but also of the force and tenacity destined to survive over time. Until the final, unsettling and overwhelming coup de théâtre.

Just as he is about to retire from the force, Marshal De Benedettis makes a discovery destined to disturb his peace of mind. Two dusty diaries surface from the the cellar of the old house of Guelfo Tabacci – a cantankerous mountain dweller  and suspect in the case of his son’s disappearance, thirty years earlier. They were written by Filo e Rullo, two little boys who, during a summer, a long time ago, went searching for their beloved dog, Birillo, and so reached Guelfo’s mountain hut. And there, the children discovered a disconcerting, painful truth that has remained buried for too long.

Adriano Salani Editore, January 2021, pp.288

  • “The author succeeds in constructing an exciting, original plot. He outlines the nature of his characters through realistic, striking dialogue. And when children speak, there’s a perfect balance between light-heartedness, naivety and empathy.”

    Patrizia Violi, Lettura/Corriere della Sera

  • “A fairy-tale about eternal friendship that transcends death… A moving story with a thousand shades, genres and feelings.”

    Avvenire

  • “A book that is hard to pigeonhole into a genre: it’s a detective story, and a psychological and coming-of-age novel that explores the dynamics between parents and children. Its principal theme is grief and how it can be handled.”

    la Repubblica

  • ‘The merit of Antoni’s novel chiefly lies in its unusual narrative creativity (…) A fairy tale as well as a thriller, a coming-of-age novel, a dream within a dream.”

    Giovanni Pacchiano, Robinson/La Repubblica

  • ‘A warm, gentle story about childrens’ fears, and about how children handle pain by mixing reality, imagination and fear to create a world that does not correspond to the real one but is necessary for overcoming their pain.”

    Alessandra Tedesco, Radio 24

  • “Written with entrancing ease (…) the story of a pure and simple friendship, it’s an ode to life and frailty.”

    Il Giornale

  • “Antoni gives us an original, gentle and archetypal novel about the consequences of grief and the survival strategies we resort to; a novel to read in one go, that never leaves the reader alone…”

    Francesca Frediani, D di Repubblica

  • “Io non ti lascio solo is a powerful, lyrical coming-of-age story constructed like a crime novel… and as the adventure becomes a metaphor for the transition from childhood to adulthood, and as you continue reading, you realise that Antoni’s most important investigation is self-discovery.”

    Barbara Baraldi, TuttoLibri-La Stampa

Rights Sold

Movie rights sold

Gianluca Antoni

 Gianluca Antoni (1968) is a psychotherapist. He has written the novels Cassonetti [Wheelie-Bins] (Italic, 2010) and Il peso specifico dell’amore [The Specific Weight of Love] (Italic, 2012). He is moreover the author of the guides Trova il tuo lavoro e Realizza i tuoi sogni [Find your job and make your dreams come true] , published in Sole 24 Ore.

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