Accabadora

by Michela Murgia

Overview

«Acabar», in spagnolo, significa finire. E in sardo «accabadora» è colei che finisce. Agli occhi della comunità il suo non è il gesto di un'assassina, ma quello amorevole e pietoso di chi aiuta il destino a compiersi. È lei l'ultima madre.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788858400098
Publisher:	EINAUDI
Publication date:	10/07/2010
Sold by:	GIULIO EINAUDI EDITORE - EBKS
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	398,032
File size:	235 KB
Language:	Italian

About the Author

Michela Murgia was born in Cabras, Sardinia. Accabadora was a huge critical and commercial success in Italy, where it has won six literary prizes, including the prestigious Campiello Prize, selling more than 350,000 copies.

Silvester Mazzarella is a translator of Italian and Swedish literature. He lives in Canterbury.

Editorial Reviews

Set in 1950s Sardinia, Murgia’s lovely English-language debut tells the story of Bonaria Urrai, caretaker of the dying, and the life she tries to give to Maria, the unwanted six-year-old daughter of a widow. In the parlance of the Mediterranean isle, Bonaria is known as the accabadora, a word drawn from the Spanish acabar, which means “to finish or complete”; Maria is a fill’e anima, a “soul-child... born twice,” once “from the “poverty of one woman” and again in the care of another. Though Bonaria’s role is to comfort those on the cusp of death, she sometimes—with familial consent—brings about the end for “those who can’t bear to suffer anymore.” Maria, unaware of her adoptive mother’s sideline, takes up dressmaking and eventually attracts the attention of Andría Bastíu, son of local vintners. But when Andría reveals to Maria that Bonaria killed his crippled brother, a shocked Maria flees to Turin to start another new life. Yet despite Bonaria’s secrets, Maria cannot forget her kindness. A touching meditation on life and death and the power of love to bind, transcend, and let go. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

'Incredibly moving ... I really enjoyed it' Miranda Sawyer, Radio Four.

EBOOK COMMENTARY

Praise for Accabadora

"Set in 1950s Sardinia, Murgia's lovely English-language debut…[is] a touching meditation on life and death and the power of love to bind, transcend, and let go."—Publishers Weekly

"The result is an eloquent meditation on the role of death in a community. Accabadora, the winner of several Italian literary prizes, is concerned not only with the bonds between life and death, but also with what it costs to sever them."—Booklist

“With its remarkable and timeless portrait of village life in Sardinia circa 1950, Accabadora tells the story of a young girl adopted by a remarkable woman who stands at the threshold of life and death. Poignant, honest, and magical, this is a dazzling story for the senses, and one I will not soon forget.” —Susan Sherman, author of The Little Russian

From the Publisher