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Belladonna
Belladonna
Oct 9, 2024 10:23 PM

Author:Anbara Salam

Belladonna

'A beguiling whirlwind of love and obsession' Elle

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It is summer, 1956, when fifteen-year-old Bridget first meets Isabella. In their conservative Connecticut town, Isabella is a breath of fresh air. She is worldly, alluring and brazen: an enigma.

When they receive an offer to study at the Academy in Italy, Bridget is thrilled. This is her ticket to Europe and - better still - a chance to spend nine whole months with her glamorous and unpredictable best friend.

There, lodged in a convent of nuns who have taken a vow of silence, the two girls move towards a passionate but fragile intimacy. As the year rolls on, Bridget grows increasingly fearful that she will lose Isabella's affections - and the more desperate she gets, the greater the lengths she will go to keep her.

Belladonna is a hypnotizing coming-of age story set against the stunning and evocative backdrop of rural Northern Italy. Anbara Salam tells a story of friendship and obsession, desire and betrayal, and the lies we tell in order to belong.

______________________________________________

'An enthralling tale of race, secrets and the desire to belong' i

'Lush and languid, this sultry coming-of-age tale captures a fractured friendship and the yearnings of girlhood' Daily Mail

'Raw and tender . . . this searingly honest coming of age story will steal your heart' Sunday Mirror

'The Virgin Suicides meets Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley, this unputdownable and lush novel had me entranced' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

Reviews

Reminiscent of the steamy passion found in The Talented Mr Ripley, this novel is a beguiling whirlwind of young love and obsession

—— Elle

An enthralling tale of race, secrets and the desire to belong

—— i

Lush and languid, this sultry coming-of-age tale captures a fractured friendship and the yearnings of girlhood

—— Daily Mail

This raw and tender tale brims with vivid prose, whether the lush descriptions of the Italian countryside or Bridget's tortured intimate thoughts. A searingly honest coming of age story which steals your heart

—— Sunday Mirror

Eleanor Catton's The Rehearsal meets Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides meets Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley, this unputdownable and lush novel had me entranced and totally absorbed in the woozy, covertly sensual world of a 1950s Italian convent. Anbara Salam has a gimlet-eyed, ferocious talent for capturing the obsessive urgency and convolutions of power and desire in adolescent experience

—— Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

I was completely captivated. Thrillingly ambitious, moving, painful and insightful. Bridget broke my heart, she's an alarmingly relatable anti heroine, and I think this book has captured something unique about the experience of jealousy, betrayal and the muddied waters that lie between friendship and obsessive love. It reminded me of The Talented Mr Ripley, but told with acute sensitivity and emotional intelligence

—— Daisy Buchanan

The tender, exquisite prose brilliantly captures the feelings and fault lines in the girls' friendship. This is a discerning look at secret infatuation and racial prejudice

—— Publishers Weekly

A moving tale about identity, love, and loss. Anbara Salam unspools a compelling narrative about a young woman struggling to find herself amid family secrets and her own hidden truths. It's the kind of emotionally rich story that stays with you

—— Anissa Gray, author of The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls

I was utterly captivated, from first page to last

—— Anton DiSclafani, New York Times bestselling author of The After Party

A raw coming of age story, with heartfelt themes of racial prejudice and forbidden love

—— Best Magazine

Classy, wonderfully gossipy and breathless

—— Red

We defy you not to get caught up in Alliott's life-changing tale

—— Heat

Darkly funny and wry story is full of nostalgia and friendship

—— Sun

Warm and wonderfully well-observed . . . One Day I Shall Astonish The World reminds us that the richness of life is in its small details, not the grand plans. This is author Stibbe at her entertaining and heartwarming best

—— Sunday Express

Nina Stibbe is one of our most beloved comic writers: One Day I Shall Astonish The World, about the lifelong friendship between two women, will cement that reputation further

—— Daily Mail, 2022 Sure Fire Blockbuster

While there may be echoes of previous greats, however, Stibbe's voice is utterly her own . . . One Day I Shall Astonish the World is, unsurprisingly, very funny. But it might also be Stibbe's most moving novel yet . . . so hilarious and rewarding

—— Irish Business Post

Funny, kind, sad, relevant, and raucous in all the right places. I loved it so much

—— Daisy Buchanan

Nina Stibbe is not just very funny but absolutely life-affirming

—— Jenny Colgan

Clever and funny, it takes a sharp look at the intricacies of marriage, friendship, work, and driving. As with all Stibbe's writing there is a pleasingly perfect balance of wisdom with jokes

—— Cathy Rentzenbrink

I started off highlighting all the brilliant observations and one-liners but had to give up because there were so many. Nina Stibbe makes being funny look easy, but that's just because she's very, very good at it

—— Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

Her best yet and it's a delight to watch this gifted comic writer go from strength to strength . . . You'll be rooting for Susan on every page of a novel packed to the gills with perceptive, laugh-out loud observations and idiosyncratic turns of phrase, putting the quirks of ordinary life under the microscope

—— Daily Express

For beautifully funny and well-observed comic writing, Nina Stibbe is your go-to author. In her latest release, a tale of lifelong friendship between Susan and Norma, she explores the mistakes, rivalries and love we all experience in life

—— Stylist, Best Novels for 2022

The true heir to Sue Townsend

—— Caitlin Moran

[Stibbe's] new novel is Elena Ferrante re-scripted as English comedy

—— Daily Telegraph

Delicious

—— Oldie

Funny of course but also a real departure as it packs most of a life and a long, messy marriage into barely 300 pages and its humour springs from a deep understanding of social pain. This acute portrayal of frienmity is up there with Cats Eye and as nourishing as Anne Tyler on top form

—— Patrick Gale

I absolutely loved every single page of it! I honestly think it's the funniest thing she's ever written

—— Garth Jennings, writer and director of 'Sing' and 'Sing 2'

From the comic voice of her generation comes a suburban tale of dysfunctional relationships full of charm, wit and lightly told wisdom

—— i

A master wielder of dry British humour, Stibbe here chronicles 30 years in the lives of frenemies Susan and Norma - a tangle of sweetness, snubs and secrets from their university days to middle age. There's an LOL moment on almost every page, which makes the pandemic ending astonishingly moving

—— People Magazine

Very funny . . . Nina does gentle wisdom well

—— Nell Zink

Another wonderful, funny slice of fiction from the author of best-seller, Love Nina. Her latest novel explores a decades-long friendship between two women and what happens when your paths diverge

—— Good Housekeeping, Books We're Looking Forward to in 2022

Nina Stibbe's very funny novels are full of charm, and her latest brilliantly captures the mordant humour of British suburban life. Through the 90s to the present day, it follows Susan from her job in a haberdashery shop to working at the local university, and the ebbs and flows of her relationships with her husband and best friend

—— Evening Standard, Best Fiction Books to Look Forward to in 2022

The wayward, wildly original and beautifully noticing sentences are perfectly cadenced . . . Despite the sparkling, satirical voice, and her laughter at the littleness of Little England, Stibbe creates a world in which tolerance and forgiveness are the key, even in these dark and scary times, to the possibility of a happy life

—— Daily Telegraph

It's a rare novel that makes me laugh out loud but Stibbe has a knack for extracting humour from everyday moments

—— Good Housekeeping, Books of the Month

In One Day I Shall Astonish The World by gifted comic writer Nina Stibbe, Susan and Norma have been best friends for 30 years, but when Norma's life takes an unforeseen turn, Susan begins to wonder if she's followed the wrong path in life- and in friendship

—— Daily Mirror, Brilliant Books in 2022

One Day I Shall Astonish the World by the always entertaining Nina Stibbe is a story of female friendship

—— Irish Times, Books To Look Out For In 2022

In April look out for...Love, Nina writer Nina Stibbe's One Day I Shall Astonish The World

—— Daily Mirror, What's Hot in 2022

Nina Stibbe is one of the great comic writers of our time

—— Irish Times

Stibbe is one of the all-time greats

—— Daisy Buchanan

Very few writers can find the delicate balance between heartbreak and hilarity like Nina Stibbe

—— Red Magazine

Funny, charming, odd-in-the-best-way and gorgeously uplifting! A delight from start to finish

—— Marian Keyes on ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’

Joyful. Stibbe's comedy probes what it means to become an adult

—— Daily Telegraph on ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’

Pitch perfect vintage comedy

—— Guardian on ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’

I love everything Nina Stibbe writes and this was my favourite of the novels. It's so sharp and painful and brilliantly funny. There are sentences you could eat for Christmas dinner. If you haven't read it already - you probably have but just in case - I really do think you'd love it

—— Katherine Rundell

Riveting drama packed with suspense and secrets

—— Woman & Home

Like drinking a pink Cosmo laced with arsenic . . . a fun, engaging and sometimes disturbing read

—— USA Today

Perfect

—— Hello

Fascinating and compassionate

—— Daily Telegraph

I loved every line of it

—— Louise Candlish

Funny and captivating

—— Closer

A cracking story cleverly told

—— Fabulous
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