The Day Before Happiness

“High hopes in clear language, cautions against real evil, and scenes thick with poetic sentiment – these elements fuel the warmth to be found in De Luca’s brief but affecting novels.” —The National

“Tender, lyrical without apology, and intensely moving.” —Library Journal

“Full of steadfast and simple charm… while still being steadfastly aware of the larger histories that are always playing out in the backgrounds of whatever it is that charms us in a momentary idyll.” —Bookslut

“The Day Before Happiness is an innovatively told post-World War II thriller set in Naples. An orphan boy’s past is revealed to him in this lyrical book, and postwar Italy is arrestingly captured in these pages…One of the most moving books I have read all year.” —David Gutowski, Largeheartedboy.com

“A lyrical narrative about a thorny search for happiness.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The only true first-rate writer that the new millennium has given us for now.” –Corriere della Serra

“The story of a risky happiness, the happiness of a city in revolt, of a violent and rediscovered love.” —Avvenire

“A hymn to life, to the Resistance, to education.” —L’Alsace