Used book – The Etruscan Smile, José Luis Sampedro

A sick old Calabrian farmer arrives at his son's home in Milan for medical examinations. He hates life in the north, this hostile city and its grey sky, but it is there that he discovers his last love: his grandson, Bruno, who bears the name his fellow partisans had given him during the maquis. In this novel full of tenderness, humour and emotion, the approach of death and old age still offer tremendous moments of happiness and learning, which lead to the fullness and serenity so well represented by the famous Etruscan smile. The Etruscan Smile is very skillfully written: as touching as those things that graze the head to more surely reach the heart. Le Monde, P Lepape This touching and bracingly simple book has been a huge popular success in Spain. It is essentially reassuring. Le Monde diplomatique, M.C. Dana Translated from Spanish by Françoise Duscha-Dalandre.