07/08/2025 – Globolibri.it

Until August

Arnaldo Ageno — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 15:24:18 +0000

Sitting alone, overlooking the still and blue lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach surveys the men of the hotel bar. She is happily married and has no reason to escape the world she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels here to the island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover.

Amid sultry days and tropical downpours, lotharios and conmen, Ana journeys further each year into the hinterland of her desire, and the fear that sits quietly at her heart. Constantly surprising and wonderfully sensual, Until August is a profound meditation on freedom, regret, and the mysteries of love, from one of the greatest writers the world has ever known.

Open Wide

Arnaldo Ageno — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:48:56 +0000

Olive is desperate to get close to Theo – really, really close. Despite being a radio host, she’s always struggled to connect with people. And now she’s in her thirties, single, and so flustered by relationships that she secretly records her conversations, hoping to decipher social clues and find a way to be less alone.

Then Theo turns up for a shift at the food pantry where she volunteers. He’s a surgeon fascinated by human organs, a former football player, and possibly as weird as Olive. For the first time, someone seems to crave and understand her.

Every recording Olive makes of Theo is a balm – which just makes her more afraid of losing him. The only solution seems to be to bind him to her forever. Luckily, the gap between Theo’s front teeth is just wide enough for something – or someone – to slip inside.

Olive desidera disperatamente avvicinarsi a Theo – davvero, davvero. Nonostante sia una conduttrice radiofonica, ha sempre faticato a entrare in contatto con le persone. E ora ha trent’anni, è single e così turbata dalle relazioni che registra di nascosto le sue conversazioni, sperando di decifrare gli indizi sociali e trovare un modo per sentirsi meno sola.

Poi Theo si presenta per un turno alla mensa dove lei fa volontariato. È un chirurgo affascinato dagli organi umani, un ex giocatore di football e forse strano quanto Olive. Per la prima volta, qualcuno sembra desiderarla e capirla.

Ogni registrazione che Olive fa di Theo è un balsamo, il che non fa che aumentare la sua paura di perderlo. L’unica soluzione sembra essere legarlo a sé per sempre. Per fortuna, lo spazio tra i denti anteriori di Theo è abbastanza ampio da permettere a qualcosa – o qualcuno – di infilarsi dentro.

Last Train from Liguria

Arnaldo Ageno — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 11:04:38 +0000

In 1933, Bella Stuart leaves her quiet London life to move to Italy to tutor the child of a beautiful Jewish heiress and an elderly Italian aristocrat. Living at the family’s summer home, Bella’s reserve softens as she comes to love her young charge, and find friendship with Maestro Edward, his enigmatic music teacher. But as the decade draws to an end and fascism tightens its grip on Europe, the fact that Alec is Jewish places his life in grave danger.

Bella and Edward take the boy on a terrifying train journey out of Italy – one they have no reason to believe any of them will survive…

The Mischief Makers

Arnaldo Ageno — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:24:37 +0000

She wrote her stories in his shadow. Now Daphne’s past is catching up with her… In a beautiful house in the wilds of Cornwall, Daphne du Maurier is on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

Tangled in a self-destructive love affair that threatens to unravel her marriage, she is also distracted by worry for the family friend whose shadow looms over her childhood: J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan.

Daphne tries to escape into writing her new book, but the line between fiction and reality blurs dangerously when her own characters start manifesting before her eyes – in particular a woman called Rebecca who looks suspiciously like her husband’s alluring ex-girlfriend. Daphne must confront the dark truth that lurks beneath the fantasy of Peter Pan and the secret life that has plagued her since she found fame. Unless she can solve these mysteries and reckon with who she truly is as an artist, her next great work may be lost to history…