The Night Trembles Written by Nadia Terranova and Translated by Ann Goldstein
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About The Night Trembles
Two stories converge in the aftermath of the devastating 1908 earthquake in Sicily and Calabria: a young woman sees a chance to avoid her impending arranged marriage and a boy manages to escape from the influence of an abusive mother on the verge of madness.
This new award-winning novel is from Nadia Terranova, author of Farewell Ghosts, a finalist for the 2019 Premio Strega, and is translated by Ann Goldstein, who also was the translator of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet.
“There is something stronger than pain, and that is habit.” Eleven-year-old Nicola knows this well. Each night he is tied up in the cellar by his mother, the wife of Calabria’s biggest bergamot producer. There he waits for the sun to rise, and with it a sliver of freedom. On the other side of the sea, Barbara has just arrived in Messina and plans to escape her father, who pulls her towards marriage with a man she does not love. Liberty will be granted to both, but it will come at a very high price.
On December 28th, 1908, the earth shakes. Europe’s most devastating earthquake razes the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria and, along with them, everything Nicola and Barbara have known. From the ruins, each must piece back together a life and start anew. Written in Nadia Terranova’s distinctively lyric style, The Night Trembles is a melancholic ode to human resilience and the promise of the unknown.
Praise
“I greatly admire Nadia Terranova’s latest novel, The Night Trembles—for how it is constructed and for its human depth, how the darkness coexists with generosity. It is quite simply magnificent.”
—Annie Ernaux
“The Night Trembles is a haunting novel of metamorphosis and resilience. Terranova’s intermingling of two unforgettable characters against a backdrop of devastation feels like fine lacework: a narrative pattern held together with masterful control. Terranova has inherited the sensibility of powerful female voices that came before her, and has by now established herself as one of Italy’s most exciting writers. We are fortunate to have her exquisitely translated into English by one of America’s most accomplished translators.”—Jhumpa Lahiri, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction