Not All Bastards Are From Vienna

Description

Andrea Molesini s exquisite debut novelwinner of the prestigious Campiello Prizeportrays the depths of heroism and horror within a Northern Italian village toward the end of the Great War. While a family s villa is requisitioned by enemy troops, they are forced to intimately confront war s injustice as their involvement with its sinister underpinnings grows more and more complex. In the autumn of 1917, Refrontoloa small community north of Veniceis invaded by Austrian soldiers as the Italian army is pushed to the Piave river. The Spada family owns the largest estate in the area, where orphaned seventeen-year-old Paolo lives with his eccentric grandparents, headstrong aunt, and a loyal staff. With the battlefront nearby, the Spada home become a bastion of resistance, both clashing and cooperating with the military members imposing on their household. When Paolo is recruited to help with a covert operation, his life is put in irrevocable jeopardy. As he bears witness to violence and hostility between enemies, he grows to understand the value of courage, dignity, family bonds, and patriotism during wartime."

Reviews

Praise for NOT ALL BASTARDS ARE FROM VIENNA AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "An excellent war novel, as well as a powerful depiction of a family's strength and mankind's justification for war's barbarity, movingly told and full of vivid imagery." "Publishers Weekly" (starred review) "[An] impressively controlled, gently paced, ultimately piercing debut . . . this unusual novel, reflecting the war in microcosm, captures a turning point in the fates of empires." "Kirkus Reviews" "In "Not All Bastards Are From Vienna," war is a demon that sweeps away everything . . . It is one of most successful characters in this compelling and enigmatic work, which leaves the reader deeply satisfied." "L Unita" (Italy) "Molesini's words are vital and transcend the rhetoric of memory . . . Behind this skillful work lies a collective vision, one that speaks for individuals no longer with us." "La Repubblica" (Italy) "In "Not All Bastards Are from Vienna," characters are streaked by vivid language; with a sure hand, Molesini plumbs the depths of his characters' psychologies." "Corriere Della Sera" (Italy) "Molesini's secret? The virtuosity to unite a tale of Eros and death with a rigorous character study. "Not All Bastards Are from Vienna" is an accomplishment." "Il Sole 24 Ore" (Italy) "With precise language and steeped in an almost photographic realism, [Molesini] describes tragic and painful events with the strength and power of a true writer . . . [the] drumming and dynamic prose in the folds of his expressive style is steeped in dignity, altruism and heroism." "Racconto Postmoderno" (Italy) "A great novel, one to read and reread for its abundance of broad and deep reflections." "Kult Underground" (Italy) "Wonderful." "La Stampa" (Italy) "With formidable talent, Molesini gradually reveals a universe of love and hate, patriotism and everyday heroism." "Le Monde" (France) "A thunderbolt of a debut novel . . . a vast fresco, both family chronicle and story of the Great War . . . evoked with finesse and erudition. "L Express "(France) "Masterful." "Page de Libraires" (France) "Take Hemingway's masterpiece A Farewell to Arms and Erich Maria Remarque s classic All Quiet on the Western Front, and cross these two war depictions with the portrait of Italian aristocracy in Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel The Leopard. . . . [Not all Bastards are from Vienna] is a powerful and effective blend of Bildungsroman, armchair travel, historical document, and war drama, with touches of a thriller." "Kultur" (Denmark) "Full of lessons for the man of today and tomorrow . . . [with] characters of flesh and blood, people with wit and courage . . . Molesini traces with a steady hand this historical map, this atlas of feelings and emotions . . . [it s a] novel of boundless beauty and tenderness, but also the overwhelming sadness and drama of war in Europe during the first half of the twentieth century. A story, too, about almost unsung heroes, those who forged the dream of a continent." "ABC Spain" "Molesini gives all his grace to the story . . . [with] great expressive power." "El Pais" (Spain) "A beautiful, sensual and visionary novel." Juan Marse, winner of the Cervantes Prize"

Author description

Andrea Molesini lives in Venice, Italy, where he was born. He teaches Comparative Literature at Padua University. He is a poet, an author of children s stories translated into French, Dutch and Japanese, and a sailor."