“Francesca Giannone is a magnificent storyteller, a master of chiaroscuro, the light and dark, delivering the delicious joys of life along with all that falls into shadow. This novel is rich and personal. When a bus stops in Lizzanello by the sea, Carlo, who has scores to settle, introduces family and friends to Anna, his modern and efficient wife and their young son. Their lives and those of the people of the village will never be the same. There is ambition, forbidden love and great longing. There is history as the story unspools against a changing Italy, but no village, no country, no universe will evolve as much as Anna, who insists on living a life in full, on her own terms, without settling for less.”—Adriana Trigiani, author of The View from Lake Como
“Francesca Giannone brings the sun-soaked vineyards of southern Italy to life in this transportive and poignant novel. The Letter Carrier, set in the difficult decades before and after WWII, is a lush diorama of a village in flux. At the beating heart of it all is Anna, the rule-breaking, bighearted letter carrier, a woman ahead of her time and drawn movingly from the author’s own great-grandmother’s story. An arresting read by an important rising author.”—Juliet Grames, internationally bestselling author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna and The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia
“Inspired by Giannone’s great-grandmother, this character-driven story uses multiple perspectives to explore gender roles, missed opportunities, and the importance of family connection.”—Booklist
International Praise for The Letter Carrier
“A great historical and coming-of-age novel, interwoven with maturity and wisdom, that speaks to each of us in a way that allows a fragment of life to contain and give back an entire universe.”—Corriere della Sera
“The Letter Carrier conceals a strong soul, that of marginal, saved stories.”—Nadia Terranova, author of Farewell, Ghosts and Zia Nina
“With an intense and engaging style, [Francesca Giannone] describes the psychology of the characters . . . and the novel becomes a small historical fresco.”—La Lettura
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