Portrait of a Family with a Fat Daughter by Margherita Giacobino

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Very well written and well translated story of three generations in rural Italy, billed as a novel although it appears to be very lightly fictionalised biography (the author states that all names and dates are true). The book depicts the gradual rise from poverty of a matriarchal clan and the way in which love influences each generation so that the final descendant, the author Margherita, feels the weight of all the love preceding. Great insights into family and relationships, the joys and sadnesses of some lives compared to others. Far better writing than Elena Ferrante, who merely tells a story and has nothing larger to say.



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