Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter
Cover: The Nun - Simonetta Agnello Hornby

Simonetta Agnello Hornby

The Nun

2012, pp. 288, Paperback
ISBN: 9781609450625
Translated by: Antony Shugaar
Region: Italy
Available as ebook Available as ebook Available as ebook
$ 15.00

The book

August 15, 1839. Messina, Italy. In the home of Marshall don Peppino Padellani di Opiri, preparations for the feast of the Ascension are underway. But for Agata, the Marshall’s daughter, there are more important matters at hand. She and the wealthy Giacomo Lepre have fallen in love, and her mother is determined to obstruct the consummation of their love. When Marshall don Peppino dies, Agata’s mother decides to ferry her daughter away from Messina, to Naples, where she hopes to garner a stipend from the King and keep her daughter far from trouble. The only boat leaving Messina that day is captained by the young Englishman, James Garson.

Following a tempestuous passage to Naples, during which Agata confesses her troubles to James, Agata and her mother find themselves rebuffed by the king and Agata is forced to join a convent. The Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Stilita is rife with rancor and jealousy, illicit passions and ancient feuds. Agata remains aloof, devoting herself to the cultivation of medicinal herbs, calmed by the steady rhythms of monastic life. She reads all the books James Garson sends her and follows the news of the various factions struggling to bring unity to Italy. Though she hasn’t chosen to enter a convent, and is divided between her yearnings for purity and religiosity and her desire to be part of the world, something about the cloistered life reverberates within her. Agata is increasingly torn when she realizes that her feelings for James Garson, though he is only a distant presence in her life, have eclipsed those for Lepre.

The author

Simonetta Agnello Hornby
Simonetta Agnello Hornby was born in Palermo in 1945. Her bestselling debut novel, La Mennulara, published in Italy by Feltrinelli in 2002 and subsequently published in twelve languages, was the recipient of the Forte Village Literary Prize, The Stresa Prize for Fiction, and the Alassio Prize. The Nun, her fifth novel, was awarded the 2011 Italian Pen Prize for the Novel. She has lived in London since 1972.  

Press

From the same country

  • Cover: The Fire - Cecilia Sala

    Cecilia Sala

    The Fire

    2025, pp. 208, $ 18.00
    A powerful, unflinching portrait of a generation fighting for change in Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine 
  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 192, $ 18.00
    A searing story about homecoming and belonging set in contemporary Rome 
  • Cover: The Malcontents - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Malcontents

    2025, pp. 480, $ 20.00
    There is a village carved into the rock of the Maremma hinterland in Tuscany and its name is Le Case. A dying country. A provincial trap. A microcosm...
  • Cover: The Four Volumes: My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante

    Elena Ferrante

    The Four Volumes: My Brilliant Friend

    2025, pp. 1248, $ 65.00
    “An unconditional masterpiece.” —Jhumpa Lahiri 
  • Cover: The Days of Abandonment - Elena Ferrante

    Elena Ferrante

    The Days of Abandonment

    2025, pp. 192, $ 18.95
    The shocking story of a woman's descent into desperate loneliness.
  • Cover: The Old Man by the Sea - Domenico Starnone

    Domenico Starnone

    The Old Man by the Sea

    2025, pp. 160, $ 17.00
    From the author of Ties and The House on Via Gemito  

Join Our Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!

Stay updated on Europa’s forthcoming releases, author tours and major news.

Are you a bookseller? Click here!

Are you a librarian? Click here!

X