UNKNOWN

A knock on her apartment door pulls Gemma Ricordi away from an uncooperative batch of ragù. Standing on her doormat is a young girl, unable or unwilling to speak, clutching a note from Gemma's estranged sister. This is my daughter Grace. Look after her as if she were your own.

Two days later another castaway comes knocking on the Ricordis' door: Felice, Gemma's brother-in-law, freshly out of a job after an academic scandal cost him his professorship.

This double exile is the opening act in a decade-long saga capturing the conflicts and ambitions of the Ricordis. A family of cooks, musicians, and garbage collectors, looking for a way out of the placid, snide life of Milan's periphery. Getting suspended, dumped, and arrested. Carving their paths to glory through each other's feelings.

Mattia Ravasi is from Monza. He talks about books on his YouTube channel, The Bookchemist.