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A review by georgianagligor
Perduti nei Quartieri Spagnoli by Heddi Goodrich
1.0
When a book tells you "Leave your Elena Ferrante at home..."... Well, that's one bold statement! I have followed this book by Heddi Goodrich ever since it was published in Italy. It's about an American exchange student living in the Spanish Quarter of Naples. She learns Italian out of love and publishes this in Italian directly. This book is a love child, how could everything go wrong?
Heddi is/was a student of Oriental Studies, you expect pearly writing, pointy observations of the Quarter, that 'fly on the wall' effect, at least something about her life. Jhumpa Lahiri did it with some success with her book.
But this writing is childish and repetitive. You could sum the whole novel up to some effect in 50-70 pages. But at least you would take out all the bits that seem put there only to lenghten the novel, not improve the story. We have almost no history, no 'nonnas', no viable intrigues ('i'm dating your crush' 'oh, ok'), nuffin'
Heddi is/was a student of Oriental Studies, you expect pearly writing, pointy observations of the Quarter, that 'fly on the wall' effect, at least something about her life. Jhumpa Lahiri did it with some success with her book.
But this writing is childish and repetitive. You could sum the whole novel up to some effect in 50-70 pages. But at least you would take out all the bits that seem put there only to lenghten the novel, not improve the story. We have almost no history, no 'nonnas', no viable intrigues ('i'm dating your crush' 'oh, ok'), nuffin'