Federico De Roberto’s “Agony” to be published in English, January 1, 2021

Italica Press is happy to announce the forthcoming publication (January 1, 2021) of the first English translation of Federico De Roberto’s classic detective novel, Agony (Spasimo), translated, with an introduction, by Andrew Edwards.

The beautiful, young Countess Fiorenza d’Arda has died dramatically at her villa near Lake Geneva. Judge François Ferpierre, the senior magistrate assigned to Lausanne’s central court, arrives to investigate whether it was murder  or suicide. In either case, who is responsible? A diverse set of characters — including two Russian anarchists and a melancholy young poet, each struggling with their own complex moral, political and artistic dilemmas — all become suspects. Ferpierre works on shifting ground as each new revelation uncovers another aspect of the case, another quandary shedding new light on intertwining motivations. 

Agony is the first English-language translation of Federico De Roberto’s Spasimo, a psychological-detective novel. Here, for the first time, a Sicilian author has written a detective procedural. De Roberto, a master of verismo, is celebrated today for his acute political, social, and psychological insights.  His work was held in high esteem by Leonardo Sciascia, who deemed De Roberto’s I Viceré the greatest Italian novel after Alessandro Manzoni’s I promessi sposi.

“If we are who we are today, we owe it in part to characters just like those portrayed in the novels of De Roberto.” 
Stefania Auci, author of I Leoni di Sicilia, La Repubblica

“In entering the ‘human abyss’ … chasing clues even in the most inaccessible recesses of the psyche … giving an account of all this, De Roberto as usual is a true master.”
Salvatore Ferlita, La Repubblica

Please have a look, here.