Nymph

Ten-year-old Leo spends her mornings tidying the rooms of her nonna’s time-worn Italian hotel, quietly accumulating the junk and treasures left behind by guests—a pearl earring, a lock of hair. Her nights are suffused with her father’s liquor-spun tales of his childhood, mingled with stories of Greek heroes of old.

Years later, over another hot, endless Italian summer, the hotel is one of the only things in Leo’s life that has remained constant. An accident has knocked her family sideways; her brother Max is distant, and Nonna has grown frail. But then she meets Dolores, a young American woman who sets something alight in Leo that she didn’t know existed.

Heat-soaked, sensual and steeped in an exquisite longing, Nymph traverses the extraordinary pains, soaring pleasures and many metamorphoses it takes to finally grow up.

PRAISE:

'Nymph is soft and sweet and hot and pungent and textured and strange and lovely...a perfect summer read...I’ll be thinking about it for a very long time.’ Literary Hub

‘A sweet, slow-burn story of self-discovery and community that reminded me why coming-of-age stories are so compelling.’ Readings

‘Nuanced, wise…this sensual, yearning novel of personal tragedy and first love in the Northern Italian countryside will transport readers of all ages.’ Shelf Awareness

'Polished, economic, swift, smart, spiritual...a transcendent work of intelligence.' Heidi Julavits, author of Directions to Myself

‘The perfect summer read. Nymph is a novel for those who love a poignant coming-of-age narrative that grapples with both the grief and joys that exist within the mundanity of everyday life.’ Skinny, UK

'Montrone’s lyrical prose is masterfully precise. Nymph is a dazzling debut that captures the dizzying intensity of first love.' Adam Wilson, author of Sensation Machines

'This shimmering gem of a novel invites you to re-experience that gut-punch feeling of youthful summer romance...Nymph is a truly impressive debut.' Anelise Chen, author of Clam Down