There has always been tension in "the blind house," where Valentina lives with her mother and grandmother in the Italian countryside. Valentina's pious grandmother often hints at a family curse, while Valentina's mother scoffs at superstition; it's one of the battlegrounds on which they fight to control Valentina's upbringing.
But in the summer of 1996, when Valentina is twelve, she gets her period for the first time--and the curse suddenly becomes frighteningly real. Blood leaks from the walls; the house and farm are overrun with frogs; the kitchen crawls with flies. Valentina is certain that she has brought catastrophe to her house and its inhabitants.
In this propulsive coming-of-age novel, of mother-daughter relationships and painful family legacies, Valentina is forever changed by the events of one terrifying summer.
Author: Francesca Manfredi
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 07/12/2022
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780393881776
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 05/23/2022
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2022
Booklist 06/01/2022 pg. 28