Italian writer Elena Varvello to publish with Two Roads

Elena Varvello - an Italian author who Elena Ferrante's publisher is predicting big things for in the UK - is publishing her first English novel with Two Roads.

Two Roads assistant editor Federico Andornino acquired world English rights to Can you hear me? (Italian title: La vita felice), as translated by Alex Valente, from Charlotte Seymour at Andrew Nurnberg Associates. Varvello was originally brought to the agency by Daniela Petracco, a former agent at Nurnberg, now Europa Editions’ UK director, who, asked last year which Italian author she would make famous in the UK if she could, commented to online magazine It Factor: "Elena Varvello, in Italy too. It will happen". 

Can you hear me?, originally published by Einaudi in Italy in May 2016, was written by Varvello over the course of 10 years and was loosely inspired by the author’s own personal story and her father’s struggle with bipolar disorder. The coming-of-age story - compared with the works of Stephen King but also "a book that defies classification" - is set during one long, hot summer in Ponte, Northern Italy, and tells the story of 16-year-old Elia Furenti, who lives in a secluded house with his parents.

The life of the book's protagonist is described as unremarkable, even in its modest unhappiness, that is until the day the beautiful, damaged Anna returns to Ponte and firmly propels Elia to the edge of adulthood. Then, everything starts to unravel: after Elia's father, Ettore, is let go from his job, he loses himself in the darkest corners of his mind, spending day after day plotting his revenge; a young boy is murdered, and a girl climbs into a van and vanishes in the deep, dark woods.

Can you hear me? is the author's first novel to be published in English and is scheduled for release on 13th July 2017 in hardback and e-book, priced £14.99 (export trade paperback £13.99). A teacher of Creative Writing at the Scuola Holden in Turin, Varvello has published two collections of poetry, Perseveranza è salutare and Atlanti; a collection of short stories, L'economia delle cose (Fandango Libri), which was nominated for "the Italian equivalent of the Man Booker Prize", the Premio Strega; and a novel, La luce perfetta del giorno (Fandango Libri).

Valente, a freelance translator, edits the Arts section of the Norwich Radical and regularly translates for Booksinitaly.com.

Andornino said: "Can you hear me? is something truly extraordinary, a book that defies classification: a gripping psychological suspense, a brilliant Euro noir, and one of the best coming-of-age novels I’ve read in a long time – all in one. Elena is astonishingly talented, a wonderful writer who deserves to be translated widely: I am extremely proud to welcome her to Two Roads."