A widowed Italian farm woman finds unlikely companionship and startling self-discovery in a novel "as immediate and spellbinding as a two-character play" ( La Stampa).
A Tuscan through and through, Nives didn't cry when she found her husband of fifty years dead in the pig pen. Nor did she cry at the funeral. But when loneliness sets in-and she brings her favorite chicken inside for company-she is shocked to discover that her new companion is a more than adequate replacement.
Then one day, the chicken goes stiff in front of the tv, and Nives must call the town veterinarian, Loriano Bottai. What follows is a phone call that seems to last a lifetime, a phone call that becomes a novel. Their conversation veers from the chicken to the past-to the life they once shared, the secrets they never had the courage to reveal, wounds that never healed.
Shortlisted for the 2022 Italian Prose in Translation Award, Nives reverberates with stories of love lost, of abandonment, of silent and heart-breaking nostalgia, of joy, laughter, and despair.

Sacha Naspini was born in 1976 in Grosseto, a town in Southern Tuscany. He has worked as an editor, art director, and screenwriter, and is the author of numerous novels and short stories which have been translated into several languages. Nives is his first novel to appear in English.

One of the most exciting new voices in Italian literature brings to life a hauntingly beautiful story of undying love, loss, and resilience, and a fierce, unforgettable new heroine

Nives can't seem to be able to shed a tear for her husband's death. She didn't cry when she found the body, she didn't cry at the funeral. Even the fog of her loneliness evaporates quickly when she decides to keep her favorite chicken Giacomina with her in the bedroom. She suddenly feels relieved, almost happy, but also guilty: how can the company of a chicken replace her dead husband?

Then one day, Giacomina becomes paralyzed in front of the tv. Unable to wake her up, Nives has no choice but to call the town's veterinarian, Loriano Bottai, an old acquaintance of hers. What follows is a phone call that seems to last a lifetime. The conversation veers from the chicken to the past-to the life they once shared, the secrets they never had the courage to reveal, wounds that never healed.

Nives echoes the stories we tell ourselves at night, when we can't sleep: stories of love lost, of abandonment, of silent and heart-breaking nostalgia. With delicate yet sharp prose and raw, astonishing honesty, Sacha Naspini bravely explores the core of our shared humanity.