L'età fragile (The Brittle Age) by Donatella Di Pietrantonio has won the 2024 Strega Prize, Italy's most prestigious literary award, given to the best work of prose fiction written in Italian by an author of any nationality.
In June 2025, Europa Editions will publish The Brittle Age in the U.S. in a translation by Ann Goldstein. The publisher described the book this way: "In the 1990s, deep in the Maiella mountains of Central Italy, a brutal crime shattered the peace of the local community. Two young women were murdered, a third left for dead. Lucia was twenty years old back then, and the only survivor. Now Lucia is a physiotherapist, separating from her husband, her daughter Amanda studying in Milan.
"When the pandemic forces Amanda to return to the family's home near Pescara, Lucia's memories are reawakened, and with them the impact of past trauma. Inspired by true events, The Brittle Age is a tale of individual resilience, and a commentary on the indelible impact of historical events on personal lives and the broader community."
Europa Editions has published two other books by Di Pietrantonio: A Girl Returned and A Sister's Story.