Other People's Children

by Ben Faccini

Tommaso is just about making it travelling abroad for his job, helping his girlfriend with her two unruly sons, and keeping up with the eccentricities of his Italian grandmother, Alma. But as Alma grows increasingly troubled by strange and unsettling memories, Tommaso realises that there is much in her past that he doesn't know. And the more he discovers, the more it seems that the secrets she has guarded for so long might not only overwhelm her but upend his own precariously balanced life too.

Reaching back to the tumultuous days of the Italian resistance during the Second World War and into the domestic chaos of modern life in London, this is a story of the past's long shadow, of the families we have and those we make.

Genres: Fiction

334 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 7, 2026

Reviews

[readsbycoral · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She told the boy how he’d once run down rows of vines, and listened to birds. She reminded him of another’s memories. She pushed his experiences into oblivion. She scooped out a hole within him so she could live.”

I spent a slow morning in bed finishing this, and what a blissful way to start my Sunday. This is a remarkable book, an utterly absorbing and compelling story that left me holding my breath and my heart in equal measure. Faccini’s command of language is nothing short of extraordinary, I read his descriptions over and over again, combing through them for new meanings and I was endlessly delighted with what I uncovered. The first half of the book deserves high praise indeed, but the second half is nothing short of a masterclass in exquisite, life affirming storytelling.

Thank you Granta for sending me this wonderful book 📕

[Chris L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many recent novels, we are seeing themes of reconciling the family past with current political upheaval. Ben Faccini’s third novel, ‘Other People’s Children’ continues this trend with a story about an educational charity worker Tom who must deal with the declining health of his grandmother, Alma. As Tom wants to write about his travels to Mongolia, his grandmother’s stories about her past and present cause friction in Tom’s relationship with Madeleine.

I like how Faccini connected Alma’s history with real events in Italy’s past so there’s more resonance. Alma’s past also connects to the Mongolian street children that Tom wants to write about, and how we often overlook current events when these events don’t make us feel able or question our government’s role in abuses.

Tom’s relationship with Alma also makes him question his connection to Madeleine, and he reevaluates his past with his connection to his parents. Faccini makes a great point that we can never escape from our past, because we will always come across moments in the present that will catapult us back into flashbacks from our history. We will become children again—remembering every hurt, every slight, every painful moment, etc.

Ben Faccini’s ‘Other People’s Children’ is a superb work of memory, reconciliation, and reclaiming the past. It’s about remembering voices that are often silenced or forgotten.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gorgeous, engrossing, humane book. I inhaled it, all of its characters, plot threads, perfect observations, like Alma and Tom drinking in the moon. I already want to read it again, to keep holding this beautiful world in my hands.