I'll Steal You Away — Niccolo Ammaniti

The bestselling author of I'm Not Scared “beautifully evokes the lopsided streets of an Italian backwater . . . the shadow life of childhood” (The New Yorker).
 
Italian literary superstar Niccolò Ammaniti's novel, I'm Not Scared, prompted gushing praise, hit international bestseller lists, and was made into a smash indie film. In I'll Steal You Away, Ammaniti takes his unparalleled empathy for children, his scythe-sharp observations, and his knack for building tension to a whole new level. In a tiny Italian village, a young boy named Pietro is growing up tormented by bullies and ignored by his parents. When an aging playboy, Graziano Biglia, returns to town, a change is in the air: Pietro decides to take on the bullies, his lonely teacher Flora finds romance with the town's prodigal son, and the inept janitor at the school proclaims his love for his favorite prostitute. But the village isn't ready for such change, and when Graziano seduces and forgets Flora, both she and Pietro's tentative hopes seem crushed forever. With great tenderness, Ammaniti shines light on the heart-wrenching failures and quiet redemptions of ordinary people trying to live extraordinary lives.
 
“Deliciously languorous . . . Ammaniti has a Dickensian touch for character study . . . I'll Steal You Away will do just that.” -- The New York Times Book Review
 
“A snapshot of small-town Italian life that could be, just as easily, a tale of small-town American life . . . Ammaniti weaves almost seamlessly between his characters as they spiral slowly toward their inevitable sad conclusions. A-” -- Entertainment Weekly
 
“Chilling and intimate, Ammaniti's work brings life to a deceptively quiet town and its wealth of eclectic and unsettling residents.” -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)