The Lost Father

Marina Warner’s imaginary memoir of an Italian family, which in turn explores the passions and prejudices of the narrator’s imagination.

"A breathtaking piece of fiction; Simpson is a writer who can break our heart and mend it in the same sentence."  -  Cleveland Plain Dealer

The narrator’s story of her search for her own and her family’s identity. Davide Pittagora, her grandfather, died from a bullet wound and his ‘duel’ is the pivot on which this independent, modern woman turns an imaginary memoir of her mother’s family. As she is drawn into her own invention, the story becomes distorted and her family are forced to ‘re-invent’ the absent Davide.

"Ratifies the achievement of Anywhere But Here, attesting to its author's...dazzling literary gift and uncommon emotional wisdom."  -  The New York Times

Marina Warner is a pioneer in the academic study of myth, but in 1985 she was prominent for her provocative books reappraising the likes of the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc as feminist figures. The majority of her work is non-fiction and her writings on the meaning of fairy tales and myth have made her a leading public intellectual. As well as having two of her novels shortlisted and longlisted for the prize, she has herself been a judge for the Booker Prize in 1985 and also for the International Booker Prize when she served as Chair in 2015. She was added to the Companions of Honour in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2022.