It is the 1930s in Massawa, capital of the Italian colony of Eritrea. A woman is abandoned by an Italian soldier when, after marrying her and fathering her children, racial laws are imposed. Now, rejected by both the local and Italian communities, she needs to find a way to provide the bare essentials for her children, while taking her anger and frustration out on her daughter Marianna. Throughout the years, Mariana grows up and her relationship with her mother becomes more complex. She will eventually wonder about her origins and start looking for her father. In a lyric prose and including elements of social and magical realism, Abandonment is a rare gem amongst the Italian Postcolonial literary canon.

Prizes

Winner of English PEN Award 2023

Erminia Dell'Oro (Asmara, 1938) is the granddaughter of one of the first Italian settlers who arrived in Eritrea in 1886. At the age of twenty she moved to Milan to continue her studies. She visited Asmara, where her family lived, to write articles and reports. Her first book, Asmara Addio (1988) was a great success. She is the author of many books both for adults and children. Currently, Erminia is involved in promoting reading and participates in meetings in various regions of Italy in schools, libraries and prisons.