Literary Hub
‘If, like me, you are a fan of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet, I urge you to check out What Hell is Not.’
Chicago Fra Noi
‘What Hell Is Not celebrates resilience in the face of deprivation and the transformative power of small acts of love.’
blog review Marjorie's World of Books
‘Each short chapter of this book is a work of poetic beauty, some showing the transformative power of love and some showing the devastation that hate brings into the world.’
Herald Scotland
‘D'Avenia convincingly conveys the extent of the deprivation and of the reach of the Mafia's influence and control... [He] has a lyrical touch amid the violence and the squalor.’
author of Skylark Farm Antonia Arslan
‘The dark story of Father Pino’s passion and death is a long shriek of grief, but it is not in vain: it is also a hymn to love that becomes beauty.’
Libero
‘A mature work that looks the theme of evil and violence in the eye.’
Booklist
‘Rich in figurative language... [the story is] equally rich in characterization and setting.’
New York Journal of Books
‘A beautifully written novel, translated from the Italian, with a heartwarming story... The language soars like a symphony. The notes are in perfect pitch.’
Booklist
‘Rich in figurative language... [the story is] equally rich in characterization and setting.’
