Family Lexicon

Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) was one of the great modern Italian writers, and this witty and elegant autobiographical novel of her younger life is an especially good portrayal of the intensity of Italian family bonds — right down to the pet phrases (or “lexicon”) her immediately family used to communicate. “If my siblings and I were to find ourselves in a dark cave or among millions of people, just one of those phrases or words would immediately allow us to recognize each other.”