Thanks to the publisher for my free review copy of this one!

I was intrigued by this one as a piece of queer fiction out of Italy, written by an author born in the 50s. Italian lit is not known for being particularly queer, and for a good 2/3rds of this book, neither is The Hunger of Women. Frankly, the lesbianism starts a little too late for my tastes. It legit took me 2 months to read this book, but once it got gay I finished the rest in 4 days 😂

No, it wasn’t just that, this book is exceptionally challenging to read and hats off to the translator, Jamie Richards, for accomplishing it. It’s filled to the brim with winding, repeated motifs, often taking up half a page, not to mention the glut of food writing. This book sits us very firmly in the traditionally female domestic sphere, then up-ends it all when middle-aged Italian housewives begin to fall for one another.

I can’t say I loved it as too many sections felt like a slog, but I definitely appreciated it.