Available Formats
The Madonna of The Mountains
By (Author) Elise Valmorbida
Faber & Faber
Faber & Faber
6th June 2025
3rd January 2019
Main
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.92
Winner of Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction 2019 (Australia)
Paperback
384
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 23mm
303g
1923, north-eastern Italy: Maria Vittoria's father has left the village to find her a husband. He has taken his mule, a pack of food and a photograph of Maria. There are no eligible men in this valley, or the next one, and her father will not allow her to marry just anyone.
Just as Fascism blooms in the country, the crops ripen, and the state demands babies - a new generation. There is much work to be done, and Maria faces a stony path, but one she will surely climb to the summit.
'A stirring tale of adversity and endurance spanning a quarter of a century ... fans of historical novels will be charmed by all the carefully researched details of rustic Italian life.' - Herald Scotland
Elise Valmorbida grew up Italian in Australia, but fell in love with London. She's a designer, writer and teacher of creative writing. In recent years, she produced a feature film. Her fiction includes Matilde Waltzing, The TV President and The Winding Stick. Her non-fiction includes SAXON - The Making of a Guerrilla Film, and The Book of Happy Endings, now published in four languages and four continents.