Blue Hunger

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Di Grado is not exactly known for a gentle, romantic tone in her work, and Blue Hunger is no exception, so if you’re a little put off by sex scenes, trickles of blood and drug use, this might not be the book for you.

Blue Hunger is a most vibrant novel about lust: beautifully written and full of sensuous images, Viola Di Grado’s book is a powerful literary journey into food and sex and the city. As the relationship progresses, she continually tries to break through Xu’s impervious façade, but every time she pushes too hard, she’s dismissed, left to stew in her anxiety until her next summons.A 2021 NEA fellowship recipient, Richards has translated works by Roberto Saviano, Igiaba Scego, and others. An external object, deus ex machina style, sort of acts as a resolution for this, which left me unfulfilled frankly. Una història d'amor, odi, frustració i solitud on la protagonista canalitza el dol per la mort del seu germà cap a un amor irracional. With her first novel 70% Acrylic 30% Wool she became the youngest winner of Italy’s Premio Campiello Opera Prima and the youngest finalist for the Premio Strega.

The impetus for this life-changing decision is the death of her twin brother, Ruben, whose lifelong dream was to move to the city and open a restaurant. After her twin's death, a solitary young woman leaves Rome for Shanghai, the city where her brother Ruben had long dreamed of opening a restaurant. I thoroughly recommend Blue Hunger by Italian novelist Viola Di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards. Non basta frapporre tra la vecchia sé e la nuova sé migliaia di chilometri di distanza, quanti separano Roma da Shangai, non basta cambiare lingua, dall’italiano al cinese, sostituire l’alfabeto con gli ideogrammi: si continuerà ad aver fame, fame d’amore. Di Grado imbues the corporeal mechanics of sex alongside sex as a form of “language-replacement”, something that supersedes verbal speech, creating a masterful narrative that conveys the ecstasy of new love: “It’s as if something inside me that had been fidgeting for so long had finally settled,” Ruben says.

Still, it’s an enjoyable read, if you can get past the odd slightly uncomfortable moment, and Richards’ work is excellent, too. Leaving the glossy core behind, the two women move through poorer, dirtier areas, visiting the hidden relics of the city beneath, or adjacent to, the shiny modern metropolis. but its combination of rich, evocative writing, and oft unsettling content makes it near impossible to look away from the page.