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La contessa di ricotta
(Countess Butterfingers)

by Milena Agus

Three sisters live in three flats in an aristocratic palazzo in Cagliari’s ancient Castello quarter, where rich and poor are mixed as they used to be in old downtowns. The eldest, Noemi, dreams of lost splendours, while the second, Maddalena, dreams of having a child. The third, known as Countess Butterfingers “because she’s clumsy, hands made of soft cheese, and because the whole of reality hurts her weak heart, also made of soft cheese”, dreams of love. She is the only one with a child, Carlino, a little livewire and a fine pianist. Around the family and its persistent illusions there are characters who are more solid but no less fleeting, because after all it is only illusion that does not flee: the old nanny, the shady neighbour, the shepherd Elias…
Milena Agus’ fourth novel takes us back into that world all her own, where enchantment and disenchantment are blended without ever passing judgement or dissolving the mystery.
Milena Agus was born in Genoa and lives in Cagliari where she teaches Italian and History at high school. With nottetempo she has published Mentre dorme il pescecane (2005), Mal di pietre (2006), Perché scrivere (2007), Ali di babbo (2008), Il vicino (2010) and La contessa di ricotta (2009). All her books are translated worldwide.

October 2009 - 136 pages, 14 x 20 cm

Rights sold to Liana Levi (France ), Hoffmann&Campe (Germany), Alfaguara (Spain/South America), Scribe (Australia-NZ ), Hakibutz-Keter (Israel ), Edhasa (Argentina), De Geus (Holland), Pupa (Turkey), Cénlit (Basque)

ISBN: 978-88-7452-209-5