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The unbreakable heart of Oliva Denaro, a novel, Viola Ardone ; translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford

eng

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fiction

The unbreakable heart of Oliva Denaro

Viola Ardone ; translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford

a novel

As provincial Sicily bursts into life with the jaunty hum of pop music and the heady scent of wild jasmine, fifteen-year-old Oliva Denaro dares to challenge convention, ignoring the taunts of peers, her mother's scolds, and her own changing body. Spirited and carefree, she loves to run until her lungs burst: to feel the strength of her lithe limbs, to relish the freedom she cherishes, to honour the friends forced by propriety to conform. Though she knows she cannot stop growing up, Oliva resists the future. To her, becoming a woman means denying oneself. But adulthood comes all too quickly when the baker's son sets his sights on her. Offered a blood orange, Oliva-haunted by her mother's warning, "a girl who smiles has already said yes"-spurns the fruit. Yet, this act sets into motion an unwanted courtship that will force Oliva to fight for the right to choose her own path, even though the odds of winning are steep. While America and Europe are in the throes of social change, Sicily fiercely clings to its rigid traditions, including the custom of fuitina -by which kidnappings could be disguised as elopements- which is accepted and enshrined in law. Oliva's battle for independence is based on the real-life story that would ultimately rock Italy-capturing the attention of both the Pope and the nation's president-and transform life for all Italians

adult