ROMAN YEAR

The author of Call Me by Your Name returns with a lush memoir of a turbulent time spent in Rome during his adolescence.

When Aciman’s family was expelled from Egypt, they were forced to abandon relative security for a life of emotional and financial strain in Italy. The author, his deaf mother, and his younger brother became refugees in the vast city of Rome, where he knew little Italian and even less about how to navigate their newfound poverty—a situation made worse by the tight-fisted financial control imposed by his uncle, a man described as “a pistacchio chiuso, a closed pistachio, sealed, impregnable, impossible to pry open—i.e., constipated.” Between his uncle’s verbal reprimands and habit of keeping a close tally on every small expenditure allotted to them, the family had few recourses. Nearly always in the position of the interpreter between his mother and frequently cruel uncle, the young Aciman was thrust into heavy responsibility. As much as possible, he retreated into books, and his education led him to love Rome. In vibrant, emotive prose, Aciman immerses readers in that time and place. In addition to evocative yet uncompromising descriptions of their shoddy apartment off Via Appia Novia—“drab, ill-lit stores everywhere, and so much soot on buildings that time had discolored them. The grandeur of imperial Rome had no place here”—the author also captures the glory of late morning in Piazza di Spagna, where “there were colors everywhere, everything and everyone was beautiful.” Aciman’s recollections of a brief yet memorable period of his adolescence move forward with passion and intensity, rich with imagery and poignant memories. Ultimately, he creates an appealing combination of coming-of-age narrative and profound reflection on the concept of home.

An absorbing exploration of the challenges and slivers of beauty that formed life for a refugee in Rome.