All That Is Left of Life

Description: A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
AN OTHERPPL AUGUST BOOK CLUB PICK

Three generations of the Ansaldo family grapple with the aftermath of a tragic murder in this sweeping, cinematic debut set in 1980s Rome, for fans of Elena Ferrante and Liz Moore.

It's a sultry August night when sixteen-year-old Betta Ansaldo convinces her cousin Miriam to sneak out to the local beach for a party. Only Miriam returns. Traumatized by the violence she's witnessed, she remains silent. The small community is riven with grief, none more so than the Ansaldos, who search for answers they cannot find. Who did Betta cross paths with on that fateful night? What was she doing there? And how could such a horrific crime happen in such a peaceful place?

As the years pass, and Betta's murder goes unsolved, the Ansaldo family fractures under the weight of their loss. When Miriam meets Leo, a sweet-natured young man with a dark past, their romance seems to turn her life around. But when Leo starts to pull loose the threads of Betta's story, determined to find out what really happened, his search for the truth risks unraveling everything.

With more than 200,000 copies already sold in Italy, All That Is Left of Life is a deeply atmospheric and unputdownable family saga that explores love, loss, and the secrets we carry, from a riveting new voice in international fiction.

Brief description: Antonella Lettieri is a London-based translator with over ten years of experience working in English and Italian. She was the 2023 NCW Emerging Translator Mentee for Italian and was awarded first prize in the 2023 John Dryden Translation.

Review Quotes: Praise for All That is Left of Life:

"All That is Left of Life is packed with difficult subject matter: substance abuse, disordered eating, suicide, a hate crime and multiple instances of sexual violence. Recchia treats all this not as tawdry fodder, but as the painful lived experience of her characters, which she excavates with an honesty and precision that counter the operatic nature of her material...Antonella Lettieri's translation is fluid and captivating...Recchia is less interested in shocking the reader with a twisty solution to this horrific crime than in exploring the questions it raises for those close to it...I suspect all will be glued to these riveting pages from start to finish."--Alexis Schaitkin, New York Times Book Review

"Irresistible...Recchia depicts with devastating astuteness how grief hollows out Betta's family and whittles away at Miriam, and her captivating storytelling transcends the plot's well-worn trope of a young man with a checkered past who intuits exactly what a woman needs. Cinematic in pacing and scope, this is nearly impossible to put down."--Publishers Weekly, starred, boxed review

"Recchia weaves together two threads for much of the novel. One psychologically explores how the people around Betta struggle to survive the aftermath of catastrophic trauma, while the other, almost a police procedural, is an intense investigation in what happened to Betta and why. Fans of propulsive, psychologically complex fiction will be drawn to this novel."--Booklist

"From the first page, readers will be immersed in this suspenseful tale of family, love, and the worst violence a parent can imagine. Recchia skillfully depicts the emotions and feelings of her characters, capturing their feelings in a raw, honest way. This is an international bestselling debut novel of a vibrant young beauty snatched from life with remarkable sensitivity and incredibly believable characters. Lettieri's translation is exquisite. Reading this spellbinding novel feels like a contest of how quickly one can turn the pages."--Library Journal, starred review

"All That Is Left of Life is just mesmerizing, and Roberta Recchia is a master storyteller. I'll read everything she ever writes."--Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes

"Italians are obsessed with Roberta Recchia's All That Is Left of Life, and now English-language readers get to enjoy Antonella Lettieri's translation. The novel's got everything--a vibrant Italian setting, a murder mystery, and not just one but two remarkable love stories. Recchia gives us a richly layered family drama that unspools over two generations and is infused with enough love, longing, and regret to keep us reading late into the night. I loved this book."--Rachel Beanland, award-winning author of Florence Adler Swims Forever

"Every book club will want to discuss this novel. Urgent and affecting, All That is Left of Life is an epic story that holds violence up to the light, where its isolating devastation is shown--but where tenderness and hope are revealed to be just as powerful. Recchia masterfully demonstrates how complicated it can be to survive, yet how worthwhile. This is a sharp-eyed, soft-hearted exploration of the human experience, and I will never forget it."--Sarah Damoff, bestselling author of The Bright Years

"One of the best books I've read in 2024 . . . will soon become a classic."--Elle España

"One of the most beautiful Italian novels of recent years, difficult to fit into a single genre. Roberta Recchia's book is a vast family saga spanning three generations, combining elements of thriller, romance and Bildungsroman."--The Hollywood Reporter Roma

"Captivating."--Tiscali

"A universal and timeless story."--Corriere di Puglia e Lucania

"A gripping family novel."--Alles für die Frau

"An emotional rollercoaster."--Kleine Zeitung

"As if you can feel the Italian sun on your skin. Captivating . . . and very profound."--Neue Freizeit

"Splendid, distressing, superb."--ActuaLitté