Award-winning author and screenwriter Francesca Melandri will be in Chicago on Monday, October 24, and Tuesday, October 25, for two special events as she presents the new English translation of her latest book, Eva Sleeps [Eva Dorme], which was recently named Italian Elle magazine’s Book of the year.
About the book:
A bestselling novel in Italy, soon to be a motion picture directed by Edoardo Winspeare, Eva Sleeps is a sweeping modern story about family, forgiveness, and conflict. At its heart is the story of a woman searching for the truth about her origins.
Out of the struggles and conflicts in the border regions of Northern Italy and Austria and the rich history that has resulted from this meeting of cultures, comes a family story that embodies the history of nations. Eva, a forty-year-old public relations professional living in Northern Italy, receives an unexpected message from southern Italy. Vito, a man she briefly knew as a child as a friend of her mother’s, is very ill and would like to see her one last time. He is a retired police officer who was stationed in the north during the late sixties, a period rife with tension, protest, and violence. These troubles, however, did not stop a young, hapless policeman from falling in love with the “wrong” woman, a girl named Gerda from Austrian Tyrol, an inventive and accomplished cook, a single mother with a rich family history of her own, a northerner, the sister of a terrorist, and Eva’s mother.
Vito’s affair with Gerda was a passionate one, but what was the nature of their love? And if he loved her so passionately, why did he return to Calabria? What scars did those years leave on Vito, and on Gerda? It’s time for Eva to find out.
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On Monday, October 24, Ms. Melandri will be present at the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago for a presentation of her book, and will also sign copies from the bookstore. This event is free, but registration through EventBrite is required.
On Tuesday, October 25, she will be at the Women and Children First Bookstore at 7:00 PM. Guests can pre-order a copy of Eva Sleeps for the signing by clicking here.
Come meet a wonderful author and hear about this excellent new book!