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From the Land of the Moon by Milena Agus
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From the Land of the Moon (original 2006; edition 2010)

by Milena Agus, Ann Goldstein (Translator)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5594142,578 (3.45)68
-- Kirkus Reviews As this compelling novel opens, a young unnamed woman reflects on the life of her bewitching, eccentric, and fiercely emotional grandmother, whose abiding search for love spans much of the twentieth century. In 1943, as American bombs fall on the city of Cagliari, she is thirty and considered an old maid, still living at home with her parents. But when the bombing ceases, and despite her protests, her father forces her to marry the first man to propose, an older widower she doesn’t love. After suffering several miscarriages, she is sent for treatment at a spa on the mainland, where she falls in love with an injured Italian army veteran. Back home, she gives birth to a son. She never reveals the affair to her husband—but decades later, she returns to the mainland and travels to her former lover’s hometown of Milan. Dressed in her finest coat and shoes, she wanders the streets in search of the elusive veteran . . . Set against a backdrop of rugged mountains and Italian villages lost in time, this international bestselling novel is a multigenerational family saga about love, lust, and country. “Agus’s descriptions of the everyday are as beautiful and haunting as her portrayal of life’s most dramatic episodes. Add an unexpected ending and the result is a graceful, powerful book.” — -- (starred review.)… (more)
Member:EBT1002
Title:From the Land of the Moon
Authors:Milena Agus
Other authors:Ann Goldstein (Translator)
Info:Europa Editions (2010), Paperback, 114 pages
Collections:Read in 2011
Rating:****
Tags:Italy, WWII

Work Information

From the Land of the Moon by Milena Agus (2006)

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» See also 68 mentions

English (20)  French (8)  Spanish (4)  Catalan (3)  German (3)  Dutch (1)  Norwegian (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (41)
Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)
Beautifully written story focusing on the years after WWII, of an Italian woman on the island of Sardinia. The story is pieced together by the woman's granddaughter (both are nameless) from things she has been told by her grandmother and by her found journal and a letter after her death. Grandmother was "rescued" from old maidom by a refugee during the war, though she did not love him. Beautiful and voluptuous and ahead of her time in terms of independent thought and a romantic disposition for poetry and love, "the principle thing" Grandmother is a local misfit, though she makes due in her marriage. She is also unable to have a child due to kidney stones, so she goes to the mainland in 195o to a hot springs spa for treatment. There she meets the Veteran, a war hero, who has lost a leg and who shares her love of all things romantic. They become involved and Grandmother finally feels the completion of all her longings and desires. 9 months after she returns home, she gives birth to a son (father to the narrator). A simple tale in terms of action, but complex in terms of emotional involvement, family dynamics and mores of the time. Translates well from the original Italian and the wistfulness can be summed up by the epigraph: "If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack." ( )
  CarrieWuj | Oct 24, 2020 |
Une évasion, parfaite pour les vacances sans pour autant être banale. ( )
  DougLasT | Apr 27, 2020 |
Avevo desiderato tanto leggerlo, poi non me ne avevano parlato bene e invece, nonostante sia meno coinvolgente di mentre dorme il pescecane, in cui la caratterizzazione dei personaggi è troppo accentuata, l'ho trovato ben scritto e interessante, finalmente non un noir sardo, un bel romanzo, interessante è l'aggettivo. ( )
  nectocaris | Feb 5, 2014 |
A short easy read, with an interesting conceit: the narrator explores the personal histories of her parents and grandparents, each story leading by topic rather than chronology on to the next. I do want to read more books using this organisational technique: it fascinates me and I want to figure out how to make it work myself. Unfortunately the stories, or story, itself was a bit slight even for this short text and ultimately forgettable, although there were some enjoyable twists along the way. ( )
  zeborah | Jun 5, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (12 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Milena Agusprimary authorall editionscalculated
Filipetto, CeliaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Goldstein, AnnTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vittoz, DominiqueTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
"If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack."

-Soldier in The Thin Red Line
Dedication
First words
Grandmother met the Veteran in the fall of 1950.
Quotations
In every family there's someone who pays the tribute, so that the balance between order and disorder is maintained and the world doesn't come to a halt.
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Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

-- Kirkus Reviews As this compelling novel opens, a young unnamed woman reflects on the life of her bewitching, eccentric, and fiercely emotional grandmother, whose abiding search for love spans much of the twentieth century. In 1943, as American bombs fall on the city of Cagliari, she is thirty and considered an old maid, still living at home with her parents. But when the bombing ceases, and despite her protests, her father forces her to marry the first man to propose, an older widower she doesn’t love. After suffering several miscarriages, she is sent for treatment at a spa on the mainland, where she falls in love with an injured Italian army veteran. Back home, she gives birth to a son. She never reveals the affair to her husband—but decades later, she returns to the mainland and travels to her former lover’s hometown of Milan. Dressed in her finest coat and shoes, she wanders the streets in search of the elusive veteran . . . Set against a backdrop of rugged mountains and Italian villages lost in time, this international bestselling novel is a multigenerational family saga about love, lust, and country. “Agus’s descriptions of the everyday are as beautiful and haunting as her portrayal of life’s most dramatic episodes. Add an unexpected ending and the result is a graceful, powerful book.” — -- (starred review.)

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Book description
In this magical, jewel-like novel, a young Sardinian woman explores the life of her Nonna - her romantic, beautiful, and somewhat crazy grandmother. Nonna is an unforgettable character whose life spans much of the twentieth century. A dreamer with fierce loyalties and unbridled passions, we follow her search for perfect love to an ending both surprising and profound. Along the way, against the stunning Sardinian landscape of cities, marinas and mountains, we meet the members of her large family, and the mysterious Veteran, the man of her dreams - each one drawn with warmth, humour and deep insight. Milena Agus writes of family loves and secrets, of sexuality, of music, and of the harsh realities of war and migration in twentieth-century Europe in a powerful, compelling, and yet whimsical voice.
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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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