Book Review: Friday 29th May 2026

A quick taster of summer followed by a swift return to default gray skies—both outside my window and in this brief, under-100-page novella.

With a glowing introduction by Elizabeth Strout (whose writing I love), I opened this book with high hopes. Set in Turin, it’s a coming-of-age story about 16-year-old Ginia and her first experience of love. If you’re looking for romance, though, you won’t find it here; it’s a much seedier reality. Drawn into a world of struggling artists and dodgy cafes through an older friend who “models”, Ginia finds herself in situations she doesn't know how to navigate.

Pavese’s prose is incredibly spare. While I usually appreciate a minimalist style, I found myself waiting for the story to truly kick off. It felt like a very slow burn that ultimately ended with a whimper rather than a bang, leaving me frustrated when I closed the cover.

Yet, I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

The initial feeling of it "fizzling out" has given way to something deeper. Pavese doesn't offer a grand, cinematic climax because first love rarely has one. Instead, within his rather pedantic writing, he poignantly captures the agonies, the yearning, and the sting of disappointment that so often accompanies our first brush with intimacy. It's all there - the shame, the heartbreak, and the painful maturity that follows. You think you’ve missed the spark while reading, but it stays with you, slowly warming up, well after you've closed the book.

An unsatisfactory ending on the first pass, perhaps, but a beautifully haunting reflection on youth in retrospect.

Not very summery, but then, neither is Lewis, so what else is new?