The Breaking of a Wave

Winner of the Strega Prize: a young girl in Tuscany finds hope amid heartbreak in "a story about the lonely daydreams of outsiders" (Kirkus Reviews).

Smart, funny thirteen-year-old Luna lives in a small town on the coast of Tuscany. When her beloved brother, Luca, drowns in a surfing accident, Luna's mother retreats into herself, while Luna believes that Luca still speaks to her through a whalebone washed up on the nearby shore. At school, stricken by her loss yet determined to carry on, Luna makes a new friend and ally, the eccentric Zot, a boy from Chernobyl. Luna's fantasies will soon clash with the lies--even the well-intentioned ones--of the adult world, in this touching, funny, and imaginative novel by the celebrated author of Live Bait.


About the Author
Fabio Genovesi was born in Forte dei Marmi in Versilia in 1974. He is the author of Live Bait (Other Press, 2014), which has been translated into over ten languages, an earlier novel, Versilia Rock City, the memoir Morte Dei Marmi (Laterza, 2012), and the Strega Prize winning-novel, The Breaking of a Wave.