{"product_id":"can-you-hear-me-9781473654891","title":"Can you hear me","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riveting coming-of-age story with the precision of a Hitchcock noir by a masterful new voice in Italian literature.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eSuspenseful and elegiac, as beautiful as it is horrifying. --Karen Dionne\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eA densely layered psychological mystery. --\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eReads like a collaboration between Daphne du Maurier and Megan Abbott. --\u003ci\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eOver the course of one oppressively hot summer in the small town of Ponte, in northern Italy, one family''s secrets are revealed and the community is torn apart by a terrible crime.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eSixteen-year-old Elia Furenti lives with his parents in a secluded house, a tight-knit family whose rhythms are dictated by the shifts in his father''s emotional state. When the closure of the nearby factory leaves Elia''s father without a job, however, home becomes an incr\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me? \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003epoignantly touches on problems of friendships, families and coming of age\u003c\/b\u003e in a small community in northern Italy. \u003cb\u003eThere is much beauty and sadness in this slim novel\u003c\/b\u003e. * Marcel Berlins, The Times *\u003cbr\u003e'I love books I can read all in one sitting (maybe with a break to make tea) and \u003ci\u003ecan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e by Elena Varvello was one of these. \u003cb\u003eA thriller, a mystery, a coming-of-age story that utterly gripped me from beginning to end \u003c\/b\u003e- and the translation from the original Italian never for a second gets in the way' \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e * Victoria Hislop, Good Housekeeping *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMove over Ferrante, there's a new Elena in town... \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me? \u003c\/i\u003eis the first of Elena Varvello's novels to be translated into English - elegantly so by Alex Valente, no easy task since the story episodically flits between two narrative strands, and splices memories of the recent past in with sections set in the present. It's as if, as one character puts it, \"time has all bunched up like a bedsheet\"... Varvello maintains \u003cb\u003ea sense of tension and dread throughout\u003c\/b\u003e, all cleverly focused on Elia's slow comprehension of the situation he finds himself in. \u003cb\u003eThe novel is something akin to noir, but the emphasis in on the psychological\u003c\/b\u003e... It made me think of the opening of Ian McEwan's \u003ci\u003eThe Cement Garden\u003c\/i\u003e... \u003cb\u003eLike all the best coming-of-age stories, at its heart \u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me?\u003c\/i\u003e is about understanding the limits of one's own knowledge\u003c\/b\u003e. * Lucy Scholes, Independent *\u003cbr\u003eThe novel is carried by both the \u003cb\u003ebrilliance of its setting\u003c\/b\u003e and by a scattering of \u003cb\u003eemotional truths\u003c\/b\u003e... Here, Varvello's spare poetry reveals itself in \u003cb\u003emasterly atmosphere and sense of place\u003c\/b\u003e... It is refreshing to read \u003cb\u003ea novel of crime and darkness that eschews straightforward domestic noir\u003c\/b\u003e, and Varvello was brave to write about the trauma that haunts her. * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eVarvello is emerging as one of the strongest young voices in the Italian literary world. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me? \u003c\/i\u003eis a sparse, stark tale\u003c\/b\u003e, at once a murder mystery and a coming-of-age story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCan You Hear Me? is a \u003cb\u003ebleak and vivid book\u003c\/b\u003e, about the way that life can throw up events that are forever impossible to come to terms with, so that subsequent life is a joyless affair.\u003c\/p\u003e -- Caroline Moorehead * TLS *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHaunting\u003c\/b\u003e... Set in a small Italian town in the late 1970s, \u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me? \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ereads like a collaboration between Daphne du Maurier and Megan Abbott\u003c\/b\u003e, a \u003cb\u003esuperb \u003c\/b\u003epsychological study marinated in a teenage boy's simmering hormones. A poet and award-winning short-story writer in her native Italy, \u003cb\u003eVarvello writes tautly lyrical prose (beautifully translated by Alex Valente)\u003c\/b\u003e, delivering \u003cb\u003ean absorbing tale that draws the reader into a nightmarish fever dream of isolation and paranoia\u003c\/b\u003e given a chilling sense of inevitability by Varvello's matter-of-fact tone and Elia's deadpan narration. * Declan Burke, Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eA claustrophobic read... \u003cb\u003eMarrying the unsettling feelings of a coming-of-age tale with a panic-inducing abduction story, Varvello explores the psychological impacts of fear, love and mental illness in pared-back prose.\u003c\/b\u003e * Eithne Farry, Daily Express *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003espare\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eunderplayed \u003c\/b\u003eand \u003cb\u003esuspenseful \u003c\/b\u003estory about a terrible crime eating away at a family. * Alastair Mabbott, Sunday Herald *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003ebeautiful\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003estark\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003epoignant \u003c\/b\u003eaccount of fear, love and loss * Emma Flint, author of LITTLE DEATHS *\u003cbr\u003eI loved Varvello's pared-back writing style, and how \u003cb\u003eshe manages to say so much in so few words\u003c\/b\u003e. An \u003cb\u003eintense \u003c\/b\u003eread, \u003cb\u003ewonderfully anxiety-inducing\u003c\/b\u003e, where \u003cb\u003eeverything is bubbling uneasily just below the surface\u003c\/b\u003e. * Claire Fuller, author of OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS *\u003cbr\u003eElena Varvello's \u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eriveting and luminous\u003c\/b\u003e. It's a gorgeous heart-rending novel that you want to finish in one sitting - and few readers will be able to resist the exquisite gravity of such temptation - but it's also \u003cb\u003ea novel that you long to savour, to make last, to draw out because there won't be another one this rich, this compelling, this extraordinarily satisfying for a long, long time\u003c\/b\u003e. * Bret Anthony Johnston, internationally bestselling author of REMEMBER ME LIKE THIS and Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award winner 2017 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSo extraordinary that I'm almost speechless\u003c\/b\u003e... It's such a mesmerising novel, at times a very chilling one, and \u003cb\u003eit has both broken my heart and mended it at the same time\u003c\/b\u003e. The writing is so tense, the atmosphere so heavy and the book's structure is so clever, and technically astounding. What a feat! And what I applaud so very much is its honest ending, its sense of completion(at least for the reader), and its universal message of hope. \u003cb\u003eI feel so moved by this novel and in ways that I know will take me some time yet to uncover\u003c\/b\u003e. * Matt Bates, WHSmith Travel Fiction Buyer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFew writers have gripped me, left me breathless and sweaty palmed, quite like Varvello\u003c\/b\u003e. Expanding the possibilities of the thriller, \u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me?\u003c\/i\u003e probes that period of unease, common to growing up, when we realise that our parents are fallible. It's a novel of teenage awakening, of pauses and silences, pregnant with secrets. \u003cb\u003eThis book has given me sleepless nights, broken my heart and worked its way deep into my psyche\u003c\/b\u003e. I am thrilled to finally have the opportunity to place such an \u003cb\u003eextraordinary \u003c\/b\u003ebook in readers' hands. * Gary Perry, Foyles Staff Pick *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me?\u003c\/i\u003e is not a faint-hearted book. \u003cb\u003eElena Varvello plays with some big themes here; fear, love and loss are prominent and sketched in heart aching relief\u003c\/b\u003e. The story is \u003cb\u003ea tense exploration of the mysteries of the human heart\u003c\/b\u003e, the weight of paranoia and the often destructive nature of love and blind devotion... \u003cb\u003eVarvello's writing is so redolent and vivid that the reader can almost feel the sweltering heat of summer in Italy\u003c\/b\u003e, the intense desire between Elia and Anna and the individual anguish and grief of all characters here. This is not a light-hearted summer read but rather \u003cb\u003ean intensely brilliant noir, tightly paced but with the wistful quality of a midsummer daydream\u003c\/b\u003e. The characters are vibrant, relatable and powerfully realised and the story moves at breath taking pace. This is \u003cb\u003ea beautiful coming of age story, a meditation on the nature of adulthood and a sizzling reminder of the turmoil of adolescence\u003c\/b\u003e. Varvello has expertly captured the exquisite torture of first time lust and the agony of betrayal. The intensely personal nature of the story becomes clear when Varvello discloses that she wrote the book as a way of exorcising her own difficult relationship with her father, himself a sufferer of mental illness, in an act of letting go of her own past. This adds another level of poignant tenderness to this already heart wrenching tale and it adds another layer of humanity to Varvello's writing... \u003cb\u003eAlex Valente has adoringly translated Varvello's work and the partnership between them is a wonderful example of how loving translation can bring powerful writing to readers across the world\u003c\/b\u003e. If you like your fiction dark and deep, your characters strikingly real and are prepared to have your heart lovingly shattered then this is the book for you. * Bookbag *\u003cbr\u003eI can't remember reading a thriller that is as \u003cb\u003eeerily intense\u003c\/b\u003e as Elena Varvello's \u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me?... \u003c\/i\u003eWhile this novel is obviously far removed from my own circumstances, the style and subject of Varvello's story \u003cb\u003einvoked a deep sense of nostalgia in me\u003c\/b\u003e. Elia is a somewhat awkward young man who makes a loose friendship with a boy named Stefano. Their friendship develops organically. They don't necessarily have a huge amount of shared interests but are pulled together more because of circumstances when there is no one else to spend time with. A lot of childhood friendships seem to be formed in this way and the only other book I can recall that got this so well is Tim Winton's novel \u003ci\u003eBreath\u003c\/i\u003e. During their summer together they spend time swimming at a remote water hole. I have strong memories of doing something similar and the representation of this uneven friendship felt very real... While Elia tries to deal with these normal issues surrounding any young man's development, he also grows increasingly wary of his father who believes that he's been cheated out of a job and becomes increasingly absent from the home. Marta seems to bury her head in the sand about her husband Ettore's behaviour and withdraw into herself. So this boy is mostly left to struggle with all of this on his own. Because of this, \u003cb\u003ethe story develops an increasing level of emotional poignancy as it goes on at the same time as it grows more unsettlingly tense\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eVarvello's captivating writing style drew me in and had me gripped in that way that made me really resent having to stop reading it at the end of my commutes or lunch breaks\u003c\/b\u003e. It's \u003cb\u003ea powerful book that reminds me of some of Joyce Carol Oates' novels\u003c\/b\u003e in the way that Varvello so effectively builds suspense amidst a plot involving friendship and embittered economical hardships. And (coming from me) you know that means I think very highly of it! * Lonesome Reader *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eno ordinary psychological thriller\u003c\/b\u003e - to pigeonhole it into that sub-genre would be to ignore large parts of this atmospheric and intense novel. Alongside the central mystery is a coming of age story and the two themes mesh together seamlessly... We've seen how Varvello generates suspense; she is also very skilful in making us care about all the characters: from Marta's tender, careworn love and inability to recognise Ettore's illness, to broken but unbowed Anna; from the adolescent bluster of Stefano to the growing confidence of Elia as he takes charge of his life. All are detailed alongside the tragedy of Ettore. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e - which is Ettore's constant question, was tremendous, possibly the best thriller I'll read all year and as I said before, unputdownable. More please!\u003c\/b\u003e * Shiny New Books blog *\u003cbr\u003eFrom the start this novel is heady and \u003cb\u003eyou can feel the Italian heat in every sentence\u003c\/b\u003e. Considering how \u003cb\u003edark and intense\u003c\/b\u003e this novel gets it's passionate and \u003cb\u003eyou find yourself relishing every chapter\u003c\/b\u003e. Varvello's writing is \u003cb\u003elike a shadowy mix of King and Du Maurier\u003c\/b\u003e, it's part compelling noir and elegant coming -of-age story... I was so rooted in the story, Elia's confused emotional state and his father's mental decline was fascinating. Also I must mention \u003cb\u003ethe translation of this novel is brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e, when reading translated fiction is often noticable when a translator loses the flow of the story but this doesn't happen at all in this book... \u003cb\u003eit just feel like \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eItaly\u003c\/b\u003e.This is going to be \u003cb\u003emy book of the summer and potentially the year\u003c\/b\u003e. * Sasha James,  Bookspume blog *\u003cbr\u003eThis excellent novel about difference, mental illness, family and not being able to go home again . . .\u003cb\u003e Can you hear me? READ ELENA VARVELLO!\u003c\/b\u003e * Literary Hub *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eno ordinary psychological thriller\u003c\/b\u003e - to pigeonhole it into that sub-genre would be to ignore large parts of this \u003cb\u003eatmospheric and intense\u003c\/b\u003e novel. Alongside the central mystery is a coming of age story and the two themes mesh together seamlessly... \u003cb\u003eI read into the night, I truly couldn't put the book down\u003c\/b\u003e...\u003cbr\u003eWe've seen how Varvello generates suspense; she is also v\u003cb\u003eery skillful in making us care about all the characters\u003c\/b\u003e: from Marta's tender, careworn love and inability to recognise Ettore's illness, to broken but unbowed Anna; from the adolescent bluster of Stefano to the growing confidence of Elia as he takes charge of his life. All are detailed alongside the tragedy of Ettore. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e was tremendous, possibly the best thriller I'll read all year and as I said before, unputdownable. More please!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e * Shiny New Books *\u003cbr\u003eAt first glance, Elena Varvello's\u003ci\u003e Can You Hear Me? \u003c\/i\u003ehas all the hallmarks of a commercial thriller... Yet those who venture further into the pages expecting the novel to be nothing more than a page-turner are in for a surprise. For \u003cb\u003ethis book offers so much more\u003c\/b\u003e. Varvello has published two collections of poetry and it shows. \u003cb\u003eNot only is her writing (translated here by Alex Valente) taut, but it is also exquisitely precise.\u003c\/b\u003e Rather than scatter-gunning the reader with details, she selects one telling enough to convey an entire character or mood. From the way a person watches their reflection in a mirror, or the briefest of exchanges, the author conjures entire scenes, imbuing her pages by turns with menace, nostalgia and wistfulness... Chief among the cast of blinkered individuals is the narrator, Elia's, father, whose redundancy and subsequent breakdown are the catalysts for much of the action. \u003cb\u003eMenacingly erratic and yet pitiable, he towers from the page\u003c\/b\u003e... At points the writing is \u003cb\u003ebreathtakingly deft\u003c\/b\u003e. The result is an \u003cb\u003eengrossing \u003c\/b\u003eand \u003cb\u003etroubling \u003c\/b\u003ebook that \u003cb\u003ehangs big questions on the taut wire of a gripping plot\u003c\/b\u003e. Like her namesake Ferrante, Elena Varvello knows how to keep readers hooked. We shall see more of her work. * Ann Morgan, ayearofreadingtheworld.com *\u003cbr\u003e...but overall, \u003cb\u003eit is far more about the unspoken, about all the things that crack open a facade and leave people broken\u003c\/b\u003e, even though they pretend to be resilient. \u003cb\u003eIt is about people hiding the truth even from themselves\u003c\/b\u003e... With its ability to capture the tormented adolescent soul, \u003cb\u003eit reminded me of Bassani's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Garden of the Finzi-Continis\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003ebut this is far less idyllic and nostalgic. The tense, moody atmosphere, conveyed not through purple prose, but through a very restrained, economical style, is more r\u003cb\u003eeminiscent of Alberto Moravia\u003c\/b\u003e. There are also hints of that author's disenchantment with human nature, modern life and that elusive myth of finding happiness. * Finding Time to Write blog *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003etaut\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003esmart\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eviciously gripping\u003c\/b\u003e noir about family and the destructive force of unconditional love. It took my breath away and kept me glued to the page until its heart-breaking end: \u003cb\u003ea phenomenal achievement\u003c\/b\u003e * Kirsty Wark, author of THE LEGACY OF ELIZABETH PRINGLE *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHaunting\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003esurreal\u003c\/b\u003e, and \u003cb\u003edeeply engaging\u003c\/b\u003e, Elena Varvello's \u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is at once \u003cb\u003esuspenseful and elegiac, as beautiful as it is horrifying\u003c\/b\u003e, as Varvello takes us deep inside the mind and heart of 16-year-old Elia Furenti during his summer of change. \u003cb\u003eReaders will devour this novel in one sitting as I did, then chew over it long after the book is done\u003c\/b\u003e * Karen Dionne, author of THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER *\u003cbr\u003eElena Varvello's \u003cb\u003ethrilling \u003c\/b\u003enovel \u003ci\u003eCan You Hear Me?\u003c\/i\u003e holds a magnifying glass to a family spiralling into darkness while simultaneously casting a net that ensnares the poignancy of the end of adolescence. We are \u003cb\u003eswept away\u003c\/b\u003e by the vivid characters as their dark and broken places are deftly revealed. Varvello's command of her story, and yet delicate delivery, makes for \u003cb\u003estunning \u003c\/b\u003ewriting. A\u003cb\u003e smart, dark, page-turner that lingers long after the last page.\u003c\/b\u003e * Kate Mayfield, author of THE UNDERTAKER'S DAUGHTER *\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003cb\u003ebleakness and menace\u003c\/b\u003e of this 'Hitchcockian' novel owe much to its brevity and the starkness of its prose. A \u003cb\u003eraw and heartrending\u003c\/b\u003e portrayal of masculinity and loneliness, the burden and complexity of family ties and the perils of crossing boundaries in a small community. * Isabel Costello, The Literary Sofa - Summer Reads 2017 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e shines a light on one family's black heart, a place where opposites coexist: tenderness and fear; happiness and pain; unfaltering faith and ugly suspicions. \u003cb\u003eA book to get lost in\u003c\/b\u003e * Paolo Giordano, internationally bestselling author of THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS *\u003cbr\u003eReading \u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003elike being swept away by a powerful current\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eThe best Italian novel of the year\u003c\/b\u003e. * Fabio Geda, internationally bestselling author of IN THE SEA THERE ARE CROCODILES *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the best Italian novels of 2016\u003c\/b\u003e. A book that doesn't shy away from pain - it shines a light on it. And it does so beautifully, page by page. * Alessandro Baricco, internationally bestselling author of SILK *\u003cbr\u003eHalfway between noir and coming-of-age, \u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is an \u003cb\u003eutterly original\u003c\/b\u003e new type of novel. \u003cb\u003eI read it in two sittings, and I'm sure it will stay with me for a long time.\u003c\/b\u003e * Maria Lomunno, Foyles Bookseller *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA noir that reminded me of great Italian literature\u003c\/b\u003e: the atmosphere I found in \u003cb\u003eNiccolò Ammaniti's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eI'm not scared\u003c\/b\u003e,\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003emixed with the images that someone like \u003cb\u003eBassani \u003c\/b\u003ecan create with such accuracy... \u003cb\u003eI can't even tell you how excited I am to finally talk about it with customers and colleagues\u003c\/b\u003e * Dafne Martino, Waterstones bookseller *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eElena Varvello has created a world of suspense à la Hitchcock\u003c\/b\u003e: a 16-year-old boy tells his story and that of his tragic family... The ravine and the forest of the Piedmontese hills described in \u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e are threatened by evil which colours every page of this novel and reaches the reader via \u003cb\u003ea shattering, dry dialogue\u003c\/b\u003e. The rapidly industrialised landscape in a provincial corner of northern Italy, containing woods, waterfalls but also discarded tins and other rubbish, speaks of the tragedy: \u003cb\u003eall is normal in the microcosm of \u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e, even intense unhappiness has been accepted as normality\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eElena Varvello is a skilled and able narrator; her strong prose belongs to a new vein that has sprung out of modern Italy: women writers revel in an imagination that used to belong to the male world but with an added dose of poetry that is altogether feminine.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e * Gaia Servadio *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003edark\u003c\/b\u003e and painful novel, constructed with great wisdom and \u003cb\u003ewritten with rare restraint\u003c\/b\u003e. * Nicola Lagioia, author of FEROCITY, winner of the Strega Prize 2015 *\u003cbr\u003eVarvello has written \u003cb\u003eboth a noir and a coming-of-age novel\u003c\/b\u003e that is in some ways \u003cb\u003ereminiscent of Niccolò Ammaniti's\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eI'm Not Scared\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e... Varvello reveals the widening cracks slowly, perceptively, as one family scene unfurls from another, \u003cb\u003etelling the story through omissions that become enigmas\u003c\/b\u003e. * Il Messaggero *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCan you hear me?\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eone of the most beautiful, intense and original books I have encountered in my life\u003c\/b\u003e... A beautifully written book, that \u003cb\u003ebrings to mind Cormac McCarthy\u003c\/b\u003e. * Huffington Post Italy *\u003cbr\u003eIt brought back to mind Elsa Morante's \u003ci\u003eArturo's Island\u003c\/i\u003e, and those classics with \u003cb\u003ethe ability to capture the abyss of adolescence\u003c\/b\u003e, authors like Moravia and Bassani. \u003cb\u003eThis novel will grab you instantly and force you to read with a growing sense of panic, something tight in your throat\u003c\/b\u003e: like a \u003ci\u003enoir \u003c\/i\u003eof ordinary life, bloodless and thus even more ruthless * La Stampa *\u003cbr\u003eA coming-of-age story of friendship and passion that \u003cb\u003ekeeps the reader glued to the page\u003c\/b\u003e * Repubblica *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMagnificent\u003c\/b\u003e * Il manifesto *\u003cbr\u003eWith her ability to capture the fragmented rhythm of life, the \u003cb\u003eclockwork eruption of a drama foretold\u003c\/b\u003e, Elena Varvello \u003cb\u003ehooks the reader\u003c\/b\u003e * Corriere della Sera *\u003cbr\u003ePain is treated here, not as an emotion to fear, but to be observed under the stunning microscope of Elena's prose. * Australian Women's Weekly (NZ edition) *\u003cbr\u003eCan You Hear Me? is \u003cb\u003ea perfect coming-of-age novel\u003c\/b\u003e, with a dark core that will make you read until the very last page ... Elena Varvello has poured her heart and soul into this \u003cb\u003ebeautiful, haunting piece of fiction\u003c\/b\u003e. * Cesca Lizzie Reads *\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"John Murray Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48739528966487,"sku":"9781473654891","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781473654891.jpg?v=1720052501","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/can-you-hear-me-9781473654891","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}