“Summer would return inevitably, as usual. It can't be killed, it's an invulnerable dragon that, with its marvelous youth, is always reborn. And it was a horrible jealousy that pained me, that: to think of the island again inflamed by summer, without me!"

Welcome to The Reading Room, Italian modern classics and contemporary literature.
This last summery episode is dedicated to L’Isola di Arturo/ by Elsa Morante.

The story is set in Procida, a small beautiful island in the bay of Naples. Here Arturo Gerace, a fifteen-year-old boy, lives with his half-German father Wilhelm. Of his mother, Arturo bears no memory, because she died giving birth to him.

L’isola di Arturo is a touching coming-of-age novel that describes the dramatic shifts from childhood to adolescence and adult life, where passion, lust, desire and love resonate like a distorted melody in the young Arturo’s head, and where innocence seems to vanish like the shape of the island far away on the horizon.

The novel is perfect for this Summer, since the island of Procida was named Italy’s Capital of Culture 2022. The little island, famous for the colorful houses scattered on its cliffs, will host 44 cultural events, involving 240 artists, from Italy and abroad.

We wish you a wonderful Summer… maybe in Procida!