The Book of Saints
When young Vittorio's mother has an affair with a mysterious stranger, the child becomes aware of subtle changes in the way his family is treated by the villagers
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Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Canadian Governor General's Award for FictionSet in a small, golden village nestled in folds of the Italian Apennines, The Book of Saints is a deceptively simple novel of startling power and mythic dimension. Young Vittorio Innocente is the pampered son of Cristina, a women whose husband has left Italy for work in North America. Beneath her placid surface, Cristina yearns to escape the restrictive village; and, one day, Vittorio is startled to find her in the family's stable, her ankle swelling from a snakebite. But what really happened to Cristina that day becomes the center of this tale—a story of passion and superstition beneath pastoral calm, a mother's secret life witnessed by a child. The first novel in a trilogy that follows Vittorio to adulthood, The Book of Saints is Ricci's acclaimed debut. Nino Ricci's first novel, The Book of Saints, has been published in ten countries. His other books include In a Glass House and Where She Has Gone. A past president of PEN Canada, Ricci lives in Toronto. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book PrizeWinner of the Canadian Governor General's Award for FictionSet in a small, golden village nestled amid the folds of the Italian Apennines, The Book of Saints is a deceptively simple novel of startling power and mythic dimension. Young Vittorio Innocente is the pampered son of Cristina, a women whose husband has left Italy for work in North America.Beneath her placid surface, Cristina yearns to escape the restrictive village. One day, Vittorio is startled to find his mother in the family's stable, her ankle swelling from a snakebite. But what really happened to Cristina that day becomes the center of this tale—a story of the passion and superstition existing beneath pastoral calm, and of a mother's secret life as witnessed by a child.The first novel in a widely acclaimed trilogy that follows Vittorio to adulthood, The Book of Saints is Italian-Canadian novelist Ricci's celecrated debut. "An extraordinary story—brooding and ironic, suffused with yearning, tender and lucid and gritty. . . . [Ricci] has perfect pitch and brilliant descriptive powers."—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, The New York Times Book Review"Fine, artful, vivid . . . Ricci has created a real place, has populated it with real people, and out of this has told a powerful tale."—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World "A book to celebrate . . . A wise, poignant, and poised novel about the sacredness of everyday life and [the] valor of which ordinary people are capable."—Bruce Bawer, The Wall Street Journal
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