At 600 pages where the author uses several words where one would do and repeats information again and again using different phrases means that I found this story to be a huge slog. I usually love family sagas but can;t say I really felt rewarded by this one. The book has such an appealing premise. Set in 20th century Scilily, Elisa is our narrator who tries to unravel the history and fate of three generations of women trapped in cycles of unfulfilled love, obsession, and societal constraints.

Description:
A woman in Italy lays out her fantastical family history.

Liked:
The last section, with Anna's descent into madness and Edoardo's letters, was pretty compelling, and even creeped me out in parts. There was a sense of pay-off as everyone's stories started to coalesce around Edoardo, and Elisa-the-child starts hearing them from every quarter. I did feel bad for Elisa, too; her parents are so horrible to her.

Disliked:
Most of the book was a terrible slog. It's 600 pages and could comfortably lose at least 400. The first two thirds of the book felt interminable - there's so much long-winded description of things that aren't the slightest bit interesting, and almost every character is vastly unsympathetic. This book took me about 5 weeks longer than a normal book would.

Would not recommend. If you’re very tempted, start at page 500ish.

So this is a BIG book. Like a lot of people I was pulled in by the Elena Ferrante of it all. She loves this shit. References it, is inspired by it, blurbed it, the works.

It follows three generations of an Italian family all (perhaps unreliably) narrated by Elisa, the youngest of the generations. Kinda like the Stage Manager in Our Town if they turned up in the final act as a character. It’s a comparison that makes sense in my head okay!

Everyone in this book sucks. All the main characters (bar Elisa tbh) are pretty rancid people. Completely motivated by their own selfish desires but it never not ever once pays off for them. Literally just nasty for no reason! Which I happen to love reading about.

I enjoyed my time spent with this book, I loved to check in on the horrid little people between the pages every day, but I did feel like there was a little something missing. Can’t put my finger on it! Just something. Overall a great reading experience though don’t get me wrong.

Elsa Morante’s *Lies and Sorcery* is a sweeping, psychologically rich family saga set in early 20th-century Sicily. Narrated by Elisa, it unravels the lives of three generations of women trapped in cycles of unfulfilled love, obsession, and societal constraints. With rich, intricate prose, Morante explores themes of narcissistic love and trauma, crafting a haunting meditation on desire, illusion, and fate.

Lies and Sorcery is colossal in its size, and deploys impactful sorcery,
Think 3 compelling novels packed in one.
Elisa tells us about her dysfunctional families’ tales; lies and sorcery in fairy tales. and with realism.
Eduardo and Anna are complex and interesting characters.
The prose is detailed and the tone is witty.

Nothing is mild or light - everything in this book keeps shifting between the extremes, and that is what makes it such a strong book.
4.5 stars.