The City and the House

"'The City and the House' is a fine book, subtle and shrewd." –LA Times

"A brief, deft epistolary novel . . . she etches a picture of the bonds that are cast between us, bonds that prove surprisingly tough for seeming so fragile. A writer of understated mastery who deserves an American following." –Kirkus Reviews

"The city is Rome; the house, Le Margherite, a villa in the country outside Rome. Ginzburg's novel consists of a series of letters mainly between Giuseppe, a widowed writer living in Rome; Lucrezia, his ex-lover, who lives at Le Margherite with her husband Piero and their children; Giuseppe's son, Alberico, a homosexual filmmaker; Giuseppe's brother Ferruccio, a professor of biology at Princeton; his wife Anne Marie, also a biologist at Princeton; and Anne Marie's daughter Chantal. In the first letter, Giuseppe discusses his decision to move to America: "I am very happy to be leaving. . . . I am also very sorry to be leaving. I think I shall miss certain people and places I'm strongly attached to." The reader, too, will miss these crazy, mixed-up, very human, exasperating, and endearing characters. Highly recommended." –Library Journal

"This warm-hearted novel is an excellent example of the distinguished Italian novelist and essayist's art." –Publishers Weekly

Praise for Natalia Ginzburg's work

"One of the Great Italian Writers of the 20th Century."–The New York Times

"Clarity, precision and wit mark the work of Natalia Ginzburg." – The New York Times Book Review

"Ginzburg [was] famous for her ability to conjure up a mixed emotional atmosphere, poignant yet unsentimental." –The New Yorker

"A glowing light of modern Italian literature . . . Ginzburg's magic is the utter simplicity of her prose, suddenly illuminated by one word that makes a lightning streak of a plain phrase. . . . As direct and clean as if it were carved in stone, it yet speaks thoughts of the heart." – The New York Times Book Review

"I wish more people would read the Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg." – Mary Gordon, Mother Jones

"Natalia Ginzburg must surely be one of literature's most provocative and moving writers." – Elle magazine

"Realistic, anchored by vivifying detail, crowded with wonderfully vibrant characters, luminous with deep feeling, responsiveness, and sympathy." – Publishers Weekly

"Ginzburg draws her readers into her deceptively charming essays with cascades of alluring, everyday detail, then stealthily broaches moral questions of great weight and complexity. Wryly witty, acutely observant, and unfailingly valiant, Ginzburg is a revelation, a spur, and a joy." – Booklist