Lies and Sorcery PMC

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

The spellbinding debut novel that launched the career of one of the greatest Italian writers of the twentieth century

Elisa - orphaned as a child, raised by a 'fallen woman', fed by fairy tales - has lived in an outlandish imaginary world for years. When her guardian dies, she feels compelled to confront her family's tortured and dramatic past, weaving the tale of her mother and grandmother through a history of intrigue, treachery, deception and desire. But as her saga of three generations of Sicilian women proceeds, it becomes something else entirely, taking in a whole legacy of oppression and injustice. By turns flamboyant and intense, raging and funny, Lies and Sorcery is a celebration of the female imagination, and the power of storytelling itself.

First published in 1948, Elsa Morante's debut novel won the Viareggio Prize and earned her the lasting admiration of generations of writers from Italo Calvino and Natalia Ginzburg to Elena Ferrante.

Translated by Jenny McPhee

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Paperback / softback
ISBN13: 9780241711200
Published: April 2026

Number of pages: 800
Width: 128 mm
Height: 198 mm
Depth: 38 mm

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd