Told with intimacy and ferocity and set in the passionate and crumbling Spanish Quarter of Naples, comes a poignant tale of first love - of a place, of a person - where languages and cultures collide while dreams soar and crash in spectacular ways.

'Don't forgive me, don't answer, don't be sad. Be happy, have babies, make mixed tapes, take pictures ... it's how I always love to think of you. And now and then, if you can and if you want to, remember me.'

Several years after leaving Naples, Heddi receives an email from Pietro, her first love, admitting that he was wrong. Immediately, Heddi is transported back to her college days in that heartbreakingly beautiful city built on ruins and set against the cliffs of a sleeping volcano. Just the thought of the Spanish Quarter, the crumbling apartment she shared with friends and where she first met Pietro, still spark the pain of longing and a desire to belong. For Heddi's tribe of university friends, Naples was the first taste of freedom and an escape from their familial obligations. But for Heddi it is the place where she searched for the roots she never had, while Pietro tried to escape his. For all of them Naples is a place that they'll never forget: the setting of their unrestrained youth.

About the Author

Heddi Goodrich first moved to Naples for high school. She ended up staying for ten years, graduating from the University of Naples, L'Universita degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" with a masters in languages. She now lives and works in New Zealand. Lost in the Spanish Quarter is her first novel. She translated the work from Italian into English, herself.

Reviews

'From the deteriorating and claustrophobic neighborhood of Elena Ferrante to the violent Gomorra of Roberto Saviano, Heddi Goodrich's is a third Naples - central, dense, vital - a story of love and of roots, of origins, set in the Spanish Quarter' Corriere della sera

'Written from the perspective of a young woman discovering love for the first time, the tale unravelled within the mystery and culture of Naples. Transported to the gritty streets of Naples, reading this novel felt both excruciating and exciting' NB Magazine

'Goodrich is perceptive on the potent early days of first love and the exhilaration of living in a foreign country - a sort of romance in itself ... her depiction of the Spanish Quarter is deliciously vivid with its hollering fish sellers and shrieking neighbours, canopies of laundry and purring motorbikes, and glimpses of glittering sea from sun-drenched rooftops' Discover Southern Europe

Book Information
ISBN 9780008359966
Author Heddi Goodrich
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint HarperVia
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 420g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 135mm * 31mm