Swimming to Elba

<b>The provocative international bestseller about two young girls growing up fast in a failing industrial town on the coast of Italy </b><p></p><p>They were always a pair: daring intelligent Anna and breathtakingly gorgeous Francesca. Just shy of fourteen their newly acquired curves and skimpy bathing suits have earned them celebrity status on the beaches of their gritty town where the glittering resort island of Elba taunts them from across the bay. The girls aware of their newfound power are on the brink of everything--high school adulthood ambition--but when their intense friendship suffers a blow each sets off on her own only to learn that the glamorous world of adult physicality can be at best banal and at worst dehumanizing. As their choices take them to a painful crossroads the girls must reconnect if they have any hope of escaping their small-town destinies.</p><p> Frank sensual and evocative of the Academy Award-winning film <i>Cinema Paradiso</i> and the international bestseller <i>The Solitude of Prime Numbers</i> <i>Swimming to Elba</i> is a harrowing yet redemptive meditation on politics family sex and the lasting power of friendship.</p>