{"title":"Natalia Ginzburg","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-road-to-the-city","title":"The Road to the City","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"descriptionContainer\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"description\" class=\"readable stacked\" style=\"right: 0;\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘They say that big families are happy, but I could never see anything particularly happy about ours.’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDelia is one of five children, growing up in a poor Italian village. She is seventeen, and dreams of marrying a rich man; she dreams of a grand apartment in the city and silk stockings. To escape her father’s neglect and her mother’s sadness, she begins to take the dusty road to the city every day, accompanied by Nini, her sweet and mysterious cousin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Nini takes a job in a factory and moves in with a city woman, Delia sees another way of being. But when she discovers she’s pregnant, she agrees to marry the father, seduced by the promise of wealth and comfort. Nothing, not even Nini’s desperate declaration of love, can stop her – but her rejection will be his undoing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Road to the City\u003c\/em\u003e is a short, poignant novel about the dreams of youth, and the cruelty it takes to make them come true.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In a mild, frequently lovely first person recounts the will-they-won’t-they relationship between the fidgety teenage narrator Delia and her bookish, somewhat surly cousin Nini.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In sparse, economical prose, Ginzburg portrays the emotional and social limits placed on women.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Written in cool, detached tones but propelled by fierce emotional currents, it’s no surprise that Ginzburg’s books are adored by everyone from Sally Rooney to Zadie Smith.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003cem\u003eStylist Loves\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘One of the great Italian writers of the 20th Century…[her] books snare so much of what is odd and lovely and fleeting in the world.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eParul Sehgal, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The voice is pure and unmannered, both entrancing and alarming, elegantly streamlined by the authority of a powerful intelligence.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDeborah Eisenberg, \u003cem\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘If Ferrante is a friend, Ginzburg is a mentor.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGuardian\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGinzburg gives us a new template for the female voice and an idea of what it might sound like.’ \u003cstrong\u003e–\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRachel Cusk\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Her prose style is deceptively simple and very complex. Its effect on the reader is both calming and thrilling – that’s not so easy to do.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDeborah Levy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Filled with shimmering, risky, darting observation.’ \u003cstrong\u003e– \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColm Tóibín\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Natalia Ginzburg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39585551384638,"sku":"","price":2550.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0079\/1586\/4121\/products\/58200176._SY475.jpg?v=1631286688"},{"product_id":"voices-in-the-evening","title":"Voices in the Evening","description":"","brand":"Natalia Ginzburg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48751856746776,"sku":"","price":2550.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0079\/1586\/4121\/files\/43813187.jpg?v=1719489395"},{"product_id":"happiness-as-such","title":"Happiness, as Such","description":"","brand":"Natalia Ginzburg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48751891448088,"sku":"","price":2650.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0079\/1586\/4121\/files\/49228530.jpg?v=1719489481"},{"product_id":"all-our-yesterdays","title":"All Our Yesterdays","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"TruncatedContent__text TruncatedContent__text--large\" data-testid=\"contentContainer\" tabindex=\"-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"DetailsLayoutRightParagraph\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"DetailsLayoutRightParagraph__widthConstrained\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Formatted\"\u003eAnna, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl in a small town in northern Italy, finds herself pregnant after a brief romance. To save her reputation, she marries an eccentric older family friend, Cenzo Rena, and they move to his village in the south. Their relationship is touched by tragedy and grace as the events of their life in the countryside run parallel to the war and the encroaching threat of fascism – and in their wake, a society dealing with anxiety and grief.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the heart of the novel is a concern with experiences that both deepen and deaden existence: adultery and air raids, neighbourhood quarrels and bombings. With her signature clear-eyed wit, Ginzburg asks how we can act with integrity when faced with catastrophe, and how we can love well.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"TruncatedContent__gradientOverlay\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"Button__container\"\u003e\u003cbutton type=\"button\" class=\"Button Button--tertiary Button--medium\" aria-label=\"Tap to show more book description\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Button__labelItem\"\u003eShow more\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/button\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Natalia Ginzburg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48751909470488,"sku":"","price":2650.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0079\/1586\/4121\/files\/61936138.jpg?v=1719489632"},{"product_id":"the-little-virtues-with-an-introduction-by-rachel-cusk","title":"The Little Virtues (with an introduction by Rachel Cusk)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"TruncatedContent__text TruncatedContent__text--large\" data-testid=\"contentContainer\" tabindex=\"-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"DetailsLayoutRightParagraph\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"DetailsLayoutRightParagraph__widthConstrained\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Formatted\"\u003eWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RACHEL CUSK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘As far as the education of children is concerned I think they should be taught not the little virtues but the great ones.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBetween 1944 and 1960, Natalia Ginzburg wrote The Little Virtues, a collection of eleven vivid portraits of life that are central to her legacy as one of the greatest Italian writers of the twentieth century. From the Italian countryside, where she and her husband lived in exile under fascist rule, to the melancholy streets of 1960s London, Ginzburg explores loneliness and belonging against the backdrop of post-war Europe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn The Little Virtues, Ginzburg takes familiar objects and experiences – worn-out shoes, money boxes, meatballs, childhood, silence – and transforms them into subjects of great significance. While haunted by the political events of the time, Ginzburg rests her gaze on the human intimacies that shape and define our lives: friendships, marriage and parenthood. She describes her longest relationship – with her writing – in a definitive piece on vocation and motherhood, while her groundbreaking essay on raising children remains as vital as the day it was written.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Little Virtues is a poignant portrait of Italy in the twentieth century and a singular work of memoir: intrepid, wise and dazzling.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"TruncatedContent__gradientOverlay\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"Button__container\"\u003e\u003cbutton type=\"button\" class=\"Button Button--tertiary Button--medium\" aria-label=\"Tap to show more book description\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Button__labelItem\"\u003eShow more\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/button\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Natalia Ginzburg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48752377331992,"sku":"","price":2750.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0079\/1586\/4121\/files\/71a-vRCggHL._AC_UY218.jpg?v=1719493571"},{"product_id":"family-and-borghesia","title":"Family and Borghesia","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArchitect Carmine and translator Ivana were once lovers. Their child died and their relationship ended but now, decades on, both with marriages and children of their own, they are friends. During a bout of pneumonia, Carmine – uneasy in his life of aspiration and materialism – begins to look back over opportunities missed and choices made. Set against postwar social breakdown, the melancholic, quietly dazzling \u003cem\u003eFamily\u003c\/em\u003e elegantly examines the human condition and what brings happiness to a life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWidow Ilaria has three cats in quick succession, each one disappearing or dying. Living with her brother-in-law Pietro and her teenage daughter and husband, Ilaria shoulders all the housekeeping and cooking. At first comic, but becoming progressively dark, \u003cem\u003eBorghesia\u003c\/em\u003e is a delicate evocation of one life and the relationships that constrain and define it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn both novellas, underneath a subtle, stripped-down prose and a rich cast of characters, runs a seam of unhappiness and isolation, as Natalia Ginzburg explores the allure of memories and the complexity of family and relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The world and its characters is circumscribed in size, but expansive in feeling ― the work of a writer who believed herself to be “small” but who was in fact anything but.’ \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Ginzburg’s beautiful words have such solidarity. I read her with joy and amazement.’ \u003cstrong\u003eTessa Hadley\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘[Ginzburg’s] stories have a subtle power that catches you at the end. . . each sings with the characteristic wit and piercing clarity of prose that holds you rapt when you read her work.’ \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eParis Review Daily\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘These two novellas are suffused with the rigorous wisdom Ginzburg earned through calamity and her determination to persist nonetheless in her work.’ \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natalia Ginzburg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48753592828184,"sku":"","price":2995.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0079\/1586\/4121\/files\/71DQfLXZipL._AC_UY218.jpg?v=1719503277"}],"url":"https:\/\/thelastwordbks.com\/collections\/natalia-ginzburg\/feb-2026.oembed","provider":"The Last Word Bks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}