Synopsis

Only kids truly know what the end of summer is like. The kids from the neighborhood know it too, as they roam the streets in early June, looking for new adventures. But Augusto and Pietro already have a new, secret adventure in mind: building a gas-powered engine to mount on a car. Because out there, meanwhile, bombings rage, men are called up for military service, and little by little, homes are emptying, and gasoline begins to run out, as do food and other basic necessities. But when a car appears, Sorchelettrica, one of the prostitutes who live in the shacks, is claiming it, and Pietro and Augusto can't touch it unless they uncover the truth about that lightning-white corpse found in the marrana. Alongside the two friends are Semiramide and Clementina, newly arrived in the neighborhood with their mother, and Michele and Virginia, who both attract and repel each other. The End of Summer is a novel that constructs a universe tailored to a child, made of adventures similar to daydreams but as precocious and real as a journey through time. With a pure and enchanting language, Serena Patrignanelli restores the epic dimension of the past and the outstretched wings of memory to the future.