the lakes water is never sweet
Another promising member of the niche Italian translated bildungsroman novel that Ferrante heads the case for, The River’s Water Is Never Sweet is the English language debut of the Italian award winning author Giulia Caminito; Our main character is Gaia, a young daughter in an increasingly angry and stubbornly persevering family, a family fraught with rage, grief, strong wills and this uncompromising stubbornness that just barely keeps them living above the poverty line, while also providing a lot of distance and tension between them. Gaia inherits her mothers anger, and she turns it outward, baring her teeth at a world she has only known to treat her unfairly. She makes a handful of friends, has a few boyfriends, and these relationships all burn at the edges, Gaia unwilling to put a fire out once she’s started it, instead preferring to fade into a thin smoke and descend into teeming solitude. Our cast of characters start to seemingly become such as well to Gaia, her inner universe so dense that she sees others as simply peripheral, annoying obstacles or like a mole you forget is there and you mean to remove someday. This novel reminded me in many ways of “We Run The Tides” by Vendela Vida, another book highlighting the uncontainable rage of the teenage girl, the betrayal so tempting in upper grade school female relationships, the urges as a girl to take retribution against the boys and men who taunt and harass you. To be a teenage girl is sometimes to be a kind of volcano, being driven to erupt by conflicting pressures, so overcome by your own burning substance that you lose yourself and in that overflow of émotion subsequently burn everyone around you. A fiery and angry girlhood can easily turn into a cold and lonely womanhood, the hot lava inside of you always bubbling close the edge, either inside or out; when it cools it stays there. The novels end felt a bit unsatisfying in ways, but in a way I guess it was a sensible step back, a return to a bitter center. If you enjoy novels on the fiery anger and naive experimental nature of teenage girlhood, and appreciate Italian translated literature, I think you’ll like this one.

I was very excited to receive this ARC and really looking forward to reading it, but now that I've finished it I feel a bit sad and hopeless.

I think this is a really interesting portrayal of teenage girl rage.

Gaia is a memorable character and she is usually angry. There are happy moments here and there: the summer of reading with Iris, receiving the dictionary, improving her scores at school. But more than that we get the sense of anger, anger at her housing situation, he mom, her financial situation, jealousy of her friends hanging out without her, etc. It's understandable but a bit overwhelming.

It's a heartbreaking book.

Gaia is an unforgettable protagonist, her struggles and ambitions shaped by the circumstances of her family’s relocation from urban poverty to a seemingly idyllic lakeside town. Her mother’s fierce determination and her father’s silent despair create a home filled with tension, ambition, and unspoken pain, while her anarchist brother and watchful younger siblings round out a family fighting against the tides of their fractured reality.

The friendships Gaia forms with Agata and Carlotta are as tender as they are precarious. As Gaia navigates bullying, betrayal, and the harsh judgments of her peers and elders, her alienation deepens, forcing her to turn inward. This inward journey is beautifully, heartbreakingly rendered, capturing the loneliness and fury of a girl grappling with her place in an unforgiving world.

After a tragedy within Gaia’s friend group, the narrative takes a darker turn, and the emotional fallout is profound. As her friends drift away and her family continues to fracture, Gaia’s transformation into someone driven by anger and resentment feels both inevitable and deeply tragic. The novel’s raw portrayal of her descent—and her vow to make the world pay for its injustices—is as chilling as it is sympathetic.

The novel is unflinching in its depiction of societal and class divides, showing how these forces shape and often limit the lives of those caught in their grasp.

This powerful, emotionally resonant novel lingers in the mind long after its final pages. With its richly drawn characters and masterful exploration of pain, resilience, and the yearning for something more, it’s a story that demands to be read, discussed and remembered.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Lake's Water is Never Sweet by Giulia Caminito is a raw, intense exploration of poverty, class, and resilience, all wrapped in hauntingly vivid prose. The story follows Gaia, a young woman navigating life in a small Italian lakeside town after her family relocates from the outskirts of Rome. Her mother’s relentless ambition to escape poverty clashes with Gaia’s growing anger and disillusionment, creating a tense, deeply emotional narrative.

I found the book gripping but heavy, with its unflinching depiction of hardship and alienation—Gaia’s internal struggles really stuck with me. The lake, almost a character itself, adds an eerie and symbolic layer to the story. While it’s not a light read, it’s beautifully written and thought-provoking, perfect for anyone who loves literary fiction with strong emotional undercurrents. If you liked books that dive deep into class dynamics and fractured families, this is definitely worth checking out.

I really enjoyed reading this, it had that element that I was looking for from the description. The overall story worked and had characters that I was looking for. Giulia Caminito wrote this perfectly and I was engaged with the story being told. Everything was really well done and can’t wait for more.