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Beginning Middle End: the new novel from the Booker Prize-longlisted author of Lost Children Archive
Not yet published
Expected 28 Jul 26From the beloved, award-winning author of the culture-changing hits Lost Children Archive and Tell Me How it Ends comes her most powerful and page-turning novel the tale of a mother and daughter traveling together after the collapse of a marriage and the dissolution of their traditional family structure.
Valeria Luiselli's novel opens the morning a mother and her teenage daughter arrive in Sicily, during a summer of rapidly-changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They’ve landed near the ancient ruins where the narrator’s grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. How do you begin again, the mother wonders, pondering her family line, and what if the new beginning you're imagining is actually the end?
While the mother tries to figure out how to reconstruct their lives together—cooking meals side by side, reading out loud to each other, playing chess, bickering and making-up—her deeply intelligent, inquisitive daughter begins to take the reins of the story. She becomes increasingly curious about her great-grandmother’s past as a digger in archaeological sites and ancient tombs, and urges her mother to leave their enclosed day-to-day in search for answers about their family’s past and future.
Beginning Middle End evolves into a road novel of exquisite tenderness. In their drive through Sicily, mother and daughter cross paths with the island's migrants, storekeepers, and elders, but also its volcanoes, its winds and its waters. As their trip progresses, it becomes a journey to origins—not just to the familial past across continents, languages, and generations, but also further back to a mythical and geological past. With her own mother showing signs of dementia, the narrator confronts the primary questions of Where is home? Where do we dwell and seek safety? How are a family’s memories made and what happens when they disappear?
Warm, funny, and poetic, this novel is an ode to imagination and possibility in dark times.
Valeria Luiselli's novel opens the morning a mother and her teenage daughter arrive in Sicily, during a summer of rapidly-changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They’ve landed near the ancient ruins where the narrator’s grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. How do you begin again, the mother wonders, pondering her family line, and what if the new beginning you're imagining is actually the end?
While the mother tries to figure out how to reconstruct their lives together—cooking meals side by side, reading out loud to each other, playing chess, bickering and making-up—her deeply intelligent, inquisitive daughter begins to take the reins of the story. She becomes increasingly curious about her great-grandmother’s past as a digger in archaeological sites and ancient tombs, and urges her mother to leave their enclosed day-to-day in search for answers about their family’s past and future.
Beginning Middle End evolves into a road novel of exquisite tenderness. In their drive through Sicily, mother and daughter cross paths with the island's migrants, storekeepers, and elders, but also its volcanoes, its winds and its waters. As their trip progresses, it becomes a journey to origins—not just to the familial past across continents, languages, and generations, but also further back to a mythical and geological past. With her own mother showing signs of dementia, the narrator confronts the primary questions of Where is home? Where do we dwell and seek safety? How are a family’s memories made and what happens when they disappear?
Warm, funny, and poetic, this novel is an ode to imagination and possibility in dark times.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 28, 2026
1380 people want to read
About the author
Valeria Luiselli
38 books2,433 followersValeria Luiselli was born in Mexico City in 1983 and grew up in South Africa. Her novels and essays have been translated into many languages and her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Granta, and McSweeney’s. Some of her recent projects include a ballet libretto for the choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, performed by the New York City Ballet in Lincoln Center in 2010; a pedestrian sound installation for the Serpentine Gallery in London; and a novella in installments for workers in a juice factory in Mexico. She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Beginning Middle End, by Valeria Luiselli, is a beautiful, poetic collection of reflections first from a mother (in her 30s) and then from her daughter (age 12) as they seek to make sense of their own uncertain and shifting present and its connection to the past and the future.
The mother is traveling in Sicily with her daughter, and is trying to make sense of the plot of her life—the beginning, middle, end—after divorcing her husband leaves her and her daughter uncertain of where life will next lead. The mother writes fiction for her profession, which she calls the intersection of memory and imagination, and as she weaves truths from her life into a tapestry of fiction her daughter and she both wonder what the narrative of their real life is. As mother and daughter travel together, they also talk with the mother’s mother, who may very well have dementia—leading to questions of memory, time travel, and how narratives of individual lives weave into the whole of families, and of humanity.
The theme of the mother’s, daughter’s and grandmother’s shifting presents is also reflected and amplified in the ongoing presence of a Proteus mosaic passed down to the mother (and daughter) from the great-grandmother, who took it from an ancient dig site. Proteus is a god of the sea who, while difficult to capture due to his form-shifting nature, has prophetic powers and knows all things—past, present, and future. The daughter becomes obsessed with the Proteus mosaic, and the potential power of Proteus to give her and her mother the key to understanding the arc of their life stories.
This theme of shifting is amplified even further against the backdrop of climate disaster/volcanic rumblings/hot winds in the present, and in the plethora of Greek myths that the mother and daughter read together on their adventure.
Deeply beautiful and poignant, this book stirred up an aching longing and tearfulness in me numerous times. Themes in this story feel especially timely for me personally as my family and I are on the precipice of a big life decision—and I’m not sure of where the plot arc will go, and at what point of our current story we are living.
I highlighted so many passages throughout that, since I read an arc of this story, I unfortunately can’t include here verbatim. But I can say this book is deeply moving, and that if you enjoy more existential and reflective works (which are some of my favorites!), please read this one for yourself. You might just love it as much as I did.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Valeria Luiselli, & Knopf for this digital arc. Publication date July 28th 2026!
The mother is traveling in Sicily with her daughter, and is trying to make sense of the plot of her life—the beginning, middle, end—after divorcing her husband leaves her and her daughter uncertain of where life will next lead. The mother writes fiction for her profession, which she calls the intersection of memory and imagination, and as she weaves truths from her life into a tapestry of fiction her daughter and she both wonder what the narrative of their real life is. As mother and daughter travel together, they also talk with the mother’s mother, who may very well have dementia—leading to questions of memory, time travel, and how narratives of individual lives weave into the whole of families, and of humanity.
The theme of the mother’s, daughter’s and grandmother’s shifting presents is also reflected and amplified in the ongoing presence of a Proteus mosaic passed down to the mother (and daughter) from the great-grandmother, who took it from an ancient dig site. Proteus is a god of the sea who, while difficult to capture due to his form-shifting nature, has prophetic powers and knows all things—past, present, and future. The daughter becomes obsessed with the Proteus mosaic, and the potential power of Proteus to give her and her mother the key to understanding the arc of their life stories.
This theme of shifting is amplified even further against the backdrop of climate disaster/volcanic rumblings/hot winds in the present, and in the plethora of Greek myths that the mother and daughter read together on their adventure.
Deeply beautiful and poignant, this book stirred up an aching longing and tearfulness in me numerous times. Themes in this story feel especially timely for me personally as my family and I are on the precipice of a big life decision—and I’m not sure of where the plot arc will go, and at what point of our current story we are living.
I highlighted so many passages throughout that, since I read an arc of this story, I unfortunately can’t include here verbatim. But I can say this book is deeply moving, and that if you enjoy more existential and reflective works (which are some of my favorites!), please read this one for yourself. You might just love it as much as I did.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Valeria Luiselli, & Knopf for this digital arc. Publication date July 28th 2026!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Beginning Middle End
This is the story of a mother on a road trip through Sicily with her teenage daughter after her marriage falls apart. While the mother struggles with how to begin again, the daughter takes an interest in their family's history and the historical sites where her grandmother-who is now elderly and dealing with dementia-worked years ago.
”What if the new beginning you're imagining is actually just a very long end?"
It is an interesting read, beautifully written where the past, present, and future all seem to be happening at once. It is very different, poetic, tender, atmospheric, and deeply emotional.
As you read, you sense many endings and things talling apart, as well as new beginnings and transitions, like the narration hand off to the daughter which a smart move that perfectly suits the title. The hot summer marked by volcanic activity and shifting winds all add to the overall feel.
If you're looking for something fast-paced, this definitely isn't it. It's very slow and sometimes portrays the teeling ot being
"stuck in the middle." The story and characters often feel stagnant, which seems intentional.
The book is more about the overall vibe; the characters don't even have names, and it has a documentary feel, complete with archival inserts. While this isn't typically the kind of book l gravitate toward, I enjoyed it and am thankful for the chance to have read it.
A big Thank you to NetGallery and Knopf for gifted ARC. All opinions are mine.
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NetGallery
This is the story of a mother on a road trip through Sicily with her teenage daughter after her marriage falls apart. While the mother struggles with how to begin again, the daughter takes an interest in their family's history and the historical sites where her grandmother-who is now elderly and dealing with dementia-worked years ago.
”What if the new beginning you're imagining is actually just a very long end?"
It is an interesting read, beautifully written where the past, present, and future all seem to be happening at once. It is very different, poetic, tender, atmospheric, and deeply emotional.
As you read, you sense many endings and things talling apart, as well as new beginnings and transitions, like the narration hand off to the daughter which a smart move that perfectly suits the title. The hot summer marked by volcanic activity and shifting winds all add to the overall feel.
If you're looking for something fast-paced, this definitely isn't it. It's very slow and sometimes portrays the teeling ot being
"stuck in the middle." The story and characters often feel stagnant, which seems intentional.
The book is more about the overall vibe; the characters don't even have names, and it has a documentary feel, complete with archival inserts. While this isn't typically the kind of book l gravitate toward, I enjoyed it and am thankful for the chance to have read it.
A big Thank you to NetGallery and Knopf for gifted ARC. All opinions are mine.
NetGallery
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This book starts as a mother trying to find her bearings and purpose after a divorce. She is also trying to find her way back to her career as a writer. She and her daughter travel to Italy, where natural disasters influence their perception and journey. As the book progresses we realize that the woman isn't only coming to terms with her divorce but also with the fact that her mother is aging. The daughter also grows as the story unfolds. She becomes almost obsessed with learning about her great grandma and returning a relic she stole from an archeological dig. She also develops more of an awareness of her mom and some of the struggles she is going through.
This book was very interesting to read. None of the characters have names. Parts of the story are abstract and cerebral. The novel itself is formatted like the Greek classics. The author was able to seamlessly transition the story telling from the mom in the beginning to the daughter at the end. I think this book has multiple layers that might take multiple readings to discover. It's not normally the type of book I would read but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you the the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This book was very interesting to read. None of the characters have names. Parts of the story are abstract and cerebral. The novel itself is formatted like the Greek classics. The author was able to seamlessly transition the story telling from the mom in the beginning to the daughter at the end. I think this book has multiple layers that might take multiple readings to discover. It's not normally the type of book I would read but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you the the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I was drawn to the story of a mother, an author. and her precocious and thoughtful young daughter on a journey together, travelling, after a painful divorce. At the same time, the grandmother seems to be beginning to struggle with dementia (as did her own mom). They travel to Sicily, where the great grandma was born. The mom is writing a book that seems to blend fiction and autobiography and that seems to confuse both mom and daughter. They carry with them an ancient mosaic of Proteus that had been in the family for years after the great-grandma pilfered (?) it when working as an excavator (disguised as a boy) at an archeological dig site. At first, I felt like it had shades of the Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante, which also have challenges and are not perfect. Many, many cultural references to classical works by Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger (over my head). Lot of intellectual posturing, mostly indecipherable to me. Perhaps I am struggling with translation issues? I am so sorry to give such a tepid review.
December 3, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for the ebook. This charming and warm book show a mother and her twelve year old daughter in Europe on the road from their old lives, divorced from husband/step father, no longer in contact with step son/step brother. The mother pulls her daughter out of school early so they can both go on a book tour through Europe with a plan to settle into Sicily for the summer. Except the island is on fire and the winds are blowing their way. Before that, it’s wonderful to spend time with these two women as they try to plan the next phase of life with games of chess, discussions of the classical texts that the daughter is digging through and constantly debating if they should return a small artifact that their grandmother stole while working at an archaeological dig when she was a teenager.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Valeria Luiselli's Beginning Middle End is a deceptively simple novel about a woman reconfiguring her relationship with her daughter and her notions of home and self after a divorce. Luiselli writes: "I had been telling myself, over and over: all I need to do is figure out what happens after the collapse of the traditional story (the parents, the children, the house) and reinvent the narrative." Reinventing the narrative and playing with layers of meaning and the inherent beginning/middle/end structure of the novel, Luiselli sends this mother and daughter into the liminal space of travel; they spend a summer in Sicily, in a moment between past (traditional family structure) and future (post divorce), inhabiting a city and apartment that are not their own. They are in their own state of reinvention. As Luiselli treads ever deeper into the middle/end of this story, treating the novel itself as a journey and a process, big ideas about life, family, memory, and endings (big and small) crystallize in a profound and masterful way. Beginning Middle End so thoroughly engaged my brain that I found myself underlining passage after passage, page after page... I can't wait to discuss it with anyone and everyone.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I am always captivated by Luiselli's prose. She writes uncertain characters with a clarity, an honesty that leaves me awestruck. This is perfect literary fiction. A compelling story with beautiful sentences and satisfying shifts and turns. An absolutely gorgeous novel.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews