British-Italian writer interested in place, memory, family, homecoming, exile and belonging. My most recent novel is The House at the Edge of Night.
THE HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2016 BY NPR, LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY AND KIRKUS REVIEWS - A USA TODAY BESTSELLER - WINNER OF THE ST MAUR COUP DU COEUR PRIZE
Castellamare is an enchanting island off the coast of Italy — far enough away from the mainland to be forgotten, but not far enough to escape from the world’s troubles. At the centre of the island’s life is a café draped with bougainvillea called the House at the Edge of Night, where the community gathers to gossip and talk. Amedeo Esposito, a foundling from Florence, finds his destiny on the island with his beautiful wife, Pina, whose fierce intelligence and grace guide her every move. An indiscretion tests their marriage, as their children grow up and struggle with both humanity’s cruelty and its capacity for mercy and love. Spanning nearly a century, through secrets and mysteries, through love stories and family trials, through stories of revenge and sacrifice, this rich and haunting novel is populated with unforgettable characters transformed by two world wars and a great recession, by the threat of fascism and their deep bonds of passion and friendship, and by bitter rivalries and the power of forgiveness.
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The following is a list of publishers for The House at the Edge of Night.
USA: Penguin Random House
UK: Hutchinson
Canada: Doubleday
Italy: Tre60
Norway: Vigmostad and Bjørke
Denmark: Rosinante
Czech Republic: Euromedia
Slovakia: Ikar
Spain (Spanish and Catalan): Salamandra
Ukraine: Vivat
Germany: Ullstein
Slovenia: Ucila
Poland: Prosynski i S-ka
Serbia: Laguna
Bulgaria: Kragozor
France: Presses de la Cité
Hungary: Maxim
Romania: Humanitas
Lithuania: Alma Littera
Netherlands: Luitingh-Sijthoff
China (simplified Chinese): Huazhong University Press
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
ABOUT
Catherine Banner was born in 1989 and grew up in Cambridge, UK. While still a teenager she wrote a series of young adult novels, The Last Descendants, which were published by Random House Children’s Books. She studied English at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and worked as a secondary school teacher, before moving to Italy in 2015.
Her debut adult novel, The House at the Edge of Night, was published in 2016. It followed four generations of a family on a tiny island off the coast of Sicily. It was a Kirkus Reviews, Los Angeles Public Library and NPR best book of 2016, and was listed as one of New York Magazine's '100 Greatest Beach Reads Ever'. In 2018, it won the Saint Maur 'Coup de Coeur' Prize in France, and became a USA Today bestseller.
Catherine’s work is published by Penguin Random House in English and translated into 22 languages. Catherine lives in the city of Turin with her husband and young son. She is currently working on her next novel, The Lit and Unlit World, which follows the women of a vine-growing family in the mountains of north Italy.
WRITING PROCESS
I live and work in the beautiful northern Italian city of Turin. A dual citizen of Italy and the UK, I research my books mostly in Italian and write them in English. My books have elements of historical fiction, literary fiction, family saga and magical realism, and each one takes me several years to write.
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Some of the detail in my books comes from the things I observe around me and experience in my daily life. But a lot of it also comes from research. I use libraries, archives, museums and books. I also carry out fieldwork and visit locations. Sometimes I might work alongside people for a while, learning new skills, or else study the same place over a period of time to observe how it changes. A big part of the job is listening to others to understand their experiences and lives, and this is always my favourite part of the process.
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When I have a sense of the fabric of the fictional world, I piece together the novel. I work little by little, only moving on once a section is finished, hoping to create a book that is full of heart, carefully crafted and completely absorbing and immersive for the reader. Just as important as the research at this stage is the way the story and characters come alive. I am always studying other writers as I work, particularly classic literature, folktales and magical realism. I love to capture what is surprising and luminous within the ordinary moments of everyday life, and if a reader can feel a point of emotional connection with one of the characters then I know I have done my job right.
IN MY BOOKS, I AIM TO TELL STORIES THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE OVERLOOKED, ESPECIALLY THE STORIES OF WOMEN. I AM INTERESTED IN WHAT HAPPENS TO ORDINARY PEOPLE IN SMALL COMMUNITIES WHEN HISTORY INTERRUPTS THEIR LIVES — HOW THEY SURVIVE AND ULTIMATELY RESIST.
contact
Email me at catherine@catherinebanner.com or use the form here to write me a message. I love receiving messages from readers and try to reply to all of them.