Marina Warner’s imaginary memoir of an Italian family, which in turn explores the passions and prejudices of the narrator’s imagination.

The narrator’s story of her search for her own and her family’s identity. Davide Pittagora, her grandfather, died from a bullet wound and his ‘duel’ is the pivot on which this independent, modern woman turns an imaginary memoir of her mother’s family. As she is drawn into her own invention, the story becomes distorted and her family are forced to ‘re-invent’ the absent Davide.

Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1988
Published by
Chatto & Windus
Publication date
Marina Warner

Marina Warner

About the Author

Marina Warner is a pioneer in the academic study of myth, but in 1985 she was prominent for her provocative books reappraising the likes of the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc as feminist figures.
More about Marina Warner

Other nominated books by Marina Warner

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