Ilaria, or the Conquest of Disobedience

Swiss writer Zalapi makes her English-language debut with a propulsive coming-of-age story set against the political violence of Italy’s Years of Lead. Ilaria, the narrator, is eight when her father, Fulvio, abducts her from her Geneva school in May 1980. She was hanging upside down on the monkey bars like her idol, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci, and now her life is turned upside down. On an interminable road trip through Italy, her father explains nothing when she asks about her mother and sister, with whom she’s been living since her parents separated. Ilaria and her father sleep in small hotels and talk to strangers in bars, where Ilaria plays pinball and Fulvio drinks too much. After they run out of money, they begin to falsely claim lost jewelry and other valuables at train stations so they can pawn the items. Zalapi sketches a clear and sensitive portrait of her young narrator, showing how Ilaria’s allegiance is torn between her mother, whom she misses, and her father, whom she worries about leaving. Meanwhile, her entry into the world of adults is shaded by horrific events like the 1980 Bologna massacre by far-right terrorists. This leaves a mark. (Nov.)