A masterpiece of love and grief ... Everything that makes the novel worthwhile and engaging is here: warmth, wit, intelligence, love, death, high seriousness, low comedy, philosophy, subtle personal relationships and the complex interior life of human beings ... magnificent - moving, replete, beautiful ... what makes the book special is that The Hummingbird is such an intelligent meditation on life, family, the human heart and the "dictatorship of pain" that comes with grief Edward Docx THE GUARDIAN
Sandro Veronesi was born in Florence in 1959. He is the author of nine novels including Quiet Chaos (2005), which was translated into twenty languages and won the Strega Prize, the Prix Fémina and the Prix Méditerranée. His latest novel, The Hummingbird, was an instant bestseller in Italy, was voted best book of the year by the Corriere della Sera (Italy's most widely read newspaper) and won the Premio Strega. Sandro is only the second author in the Premio Strega's history to win the prize twice.
Elena Pala translates from Italian and French. Following a stint as a tour guide at the Eiffel Tower, a PhD in Linguistics at Cambridge University, four years at a London advertising agency, and a year backpacking in South America, she finally found her calling as a literary translator. Recent translations include The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi (W&N), Down and Out in England and Italy by Alberto Prunetti (Scribe) and Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati (W&N). Forthcoming titles include The Wicked One (title tbd) by Beatrice Salvioni, which will be published by HarperVia.