Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024

Shortlisted for the John Floro Prize 2024

The 100,000 copy Italian bestseller for fans of Rachel Cusk and Deborah Levy

''Deliciously enjoyable'' Katherine Heiny

''I adored it'' Naoise Dolan

''Hilarious'' Roddy Doyle

''Thrillingly original'' Monica Ali

Vero has grown up in Rome with her eccentric family: an omnipresent mother who is devoted to her own anxiety; a father ruled by hygienic and architectural obsessions; and a precocious genius brother at the centre of their attention. As she becomes an adult, Vero's need to strike out on her own leads her into bizarre and comical situations, and a complicated relationship with truth and storytelling ...