A starkly beautiful blend of novel, memoir and elegy, In Farthest Seas tells the story of a complex, life-long love through brief, startling moments of epiphany. Divided into 2 sections, the book focuses on the first 4 years and final 4 months of Lalla Romano’s relationship with her husband, Innocenzo Monti.

Beginning with the couple’s meeting in Cuneo, Italy, Romano recounts their early attraction and burgeoning connection that developed on hikes in the surrounding Alps. Snapshots of conversation about music and painting reveal depths that come to represent the essence of their relationship, as the section builds to a close with their wedding and arrival at their first home together.

The subtle note of elegy that sounds throughout the 1st section comes to the fore in the 2nd, a sharply poignant account of Innocenzo’s decline and death. Romano’s prose builds musical leitmotifs from the themes of love and death, braiding the ending of their relationship with its beginning, building to a quietly powerful and startlingly private symphony.

An intensely moving depiction of grief, In Farthest Seas is perhaps the greatest work by a rediscovered Italian master, who’s been compared to Natalia Ginzburg and Cesare Pavese.

Heartbreakingly beautiful. This is the type of book that will haunt you long after you finish it. Will recommend to others.

Lalla Romano's novel, *In Farthest Seas*, intertwines themes of grief, fiction, and memoir in a style reminiscent of Joan Didion’s *The Year of Magical Thinking*. Originally published decades ago, it is now being released in English.

This poignant tale of love and loss is divided into two sections, in which the narrator reflects on her life with Innocenzo. Written in a diary-like format, the narrative is both vulnerable and intimate, offering readers a glimpse into life and our own mortality. I recommend this novel to fans of Italian literature and those who appreciate emotionally resonant stories about relationships. Thank you to NetGalley, Steerforth & Pushkin, and Pushkin Press Classics for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.