An Autumn Story
1947
First Published
3.71
Average Rating
145
Number of Pages
"Set during WWII, this is the first novel to appear in English by the celebrated Italian author of Words in Commotion and Other Stories. The narrator, an outlaw, takes refuge in an odd mountain manor occupied by an elderly nobleman and his two ferocious wolfhounds. The renegade's curiosity is awakened when he sees a turn-of-the-century painting of an alluring woman, and hears 'faint breathing' in his room at night and suspiciously light footsteps on a staircase. Ignoring the wishes of his host, he explores what he perceives to be a ghostly presence in the mansion. This riveting tale packs multiple surprises, with piercingly nightmarish imagery and intense, lonely characters tormented by private passions and obsessions. Landolfi (1908-79) masterfully evokes mood by engaging the senses: 'By now, it was the dead of night; a stiff, wet wind had risen, increasing the havoc that the dampness had wrought on me.... All around me, I heard the huge trees twisting and soughing furiously'"—Publishers Weekly.
Avg Rating
3.71
Number of Ratings
367
5 STARS
20%
4 STARS
42%
3 STARS
30%
2 STARS
7%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads
Author
Tommaso Landolfi
Author · 5 books
Tommaso Landolfi was an Italian author, translator and literary critic. His numerous grotesque tales and novels, sometimes on the border of speculative fiction, science fiction and realism, place him in a unique and unorthodox position among Italian writers. He won a number of awards, including the prestigious Strega Prize.
