The Silver Book

He sweeps Nicholas to Rome, into the looking-glass world of Cinecitta, the studio where Casanova''s Venice will be ingeniously assembled. Then in the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Salò, Pasolini''s horrifying fable of fascism.

But Nicholas has a secret and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amidst the rising political tensions of Italy''s ''Years of Lead'', he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn''t intend.<>

About the author

Olivia Laing is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They’re the author of eight books, including The Lonely City, Everybody and the Sunday Times number one bestseller The Garden Against Time. Laing’s first novel, Crudo, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and in 2018 they were awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction. They are an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts and their books have been translated into twenty-one languages.

Report

Laing's accomplished second novel, The Silver Book, feels like a precision-controlled environment. In taut sentences, Laing evokes the sensuous eroticism and incipient danger of it 1970s Italian setting, moving towards a shattering conclusion . . . rigorously researched and realised historical fiction Patricia Nicol The Times

Product details

• Authors: Olivia Laing, Laing Olivia
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.11.2025
• EAN: 9780241783979
• ISBN: 978-0-241-78397-9
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 234 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Historical fiction, FICTION / Literary, Venice, Rome, FICTION / Noir, Italy, Narrative theme: Politics, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, c 1970 to c 1979, Relating to gay people, FICTION / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Gay, Film, television, radio and performing arts genres, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / Post-World War II, FICTION / Performing Arts / Film, Television & Radio, Narrative theme: politics / economics