A New York Times and a LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2026

"A warm novel about connection, loss and imagining place."—Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times

"Italian literature has been waiting years for a novel like this."—Vincenzo Latronico, author of Perfection

Mina is thirty years old and leads a life in London built with great care but little spontaneity. One evening she receives a phone call from her mother. Her father is dead. 

After returning home for the funeral, Mina ends up staying. Home is a small seaside town, where her Moroccan father ran a beach bar frequented mostly by migrants; a place of refuge for those who felt unwelcome in this new land. 

It’s here, in a place where people appear like ghosts who pass and vanish, that Mina connects with her family and rediscovers memories of her father, that mythical, elusive migrant with a mysterious past. Surrounded by the sea, Mina will find that roots are a fleeting dream—a desire to find a common history that will allow her to forget, at least at times, the wounds of abandonment.

WINNER of the Città di Lugnano Debut Novel Prize

WINNER of the Mastercard Debut Novel Prize
WINNER of the Bancarella Select Prize