It’s the height of summer in 1930s Italy and sixteen-year-old Ginia is desperate for adventure. So begins a fateful friendship with Amelia, a stylish and sophisticated artist’s model who envelops her in a dazzling new world of bohemian artists and intoxicating freedom. Under the spell of her new friends, Ginia soon falls in love with Guido, an enigmatic young painter. It’s the start of a desperate love affair, charged with false hope and overwhelming passion – destined to last no longer than the course of a summer.

The Beautiful Summer is a gorgeous coming-of-age tale of lost innocence and first love, by one of Italy’s greatest writers.

(Penguin Books)