Simonetta Agnello Hornby (Italy): The Almond Picker

Translation: Alaistar McEwen, Penguin Book, 2005

Enrico Franceschini has been a foreign correspondent for the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica for twenty-five years and is currently based in London. He received the Europa Prize for his coverage of the failed coup in Moscow in 1993 and is also the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, among them Avevo vent’anni, Fuori stagione, Russia, istruzioni per l’uso and La donna della Piazza Rossa.

Simonetta Agnello Hornby has lived in London since 1972. She works as a solicitor specializing in children’s cases and is part-time chairman of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Tribunal. Her first novel, The Almond Picker  (2002), an Italian bestseller and winner of four European book prizes was followed by The Marchesa, Boccamurata and Vento scomposto.

The Almond Picker, transl. Alaistar McEwen, Penguin Book, 2005
A riveting tale of corruption and intrigue with a cast of wonderfully-drawn Sicilian characters, The Almond Picker, a bestseller in Italy and the winner of four European book prizes, is, above all, a poignant love story with an utterly unforgettable heroine at its heart.