Praise for The Performance
“All the world’s a stage…In this English-language debut, Claudia Petrucci provides a fresh take on an age-old issue: the blurred lines between art and life. In the novel, set in Milan, a woman working in a grocery store returns to the acting profession she once loved. She is an incandescent actor but soon suffers a complete breakdown, showing signs of life only when reading scripted scenes. What follows is a tangled Pygmalion story in which her boyfriend and her theater director conspire, each with his own motives, to shape her anew according to their own script.” —The Millions Most Anticipated
“An unsettling and stunning tale…Petrucci’s captivating character-driven debut explores the boundary between reality and illusion in the theater world.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
“What’s left of an actor when she leaves the stage? Who is she when she takes off her mask and is no longer just a character? These are some of the questions running through Claudia Petrucci’s debut novel, The Performance, and they make for a very intense and original story.” —La Repubblica
“A daring, staggering debut novel.” —Elle
“Lush, relentless and fast-paced, The Performance is a story that lingers in the mind long after the curtain falls.” —Literary Review
“A fascinating psychological drama. … Rarely were the ambivalence and motivations of a literary figure described as hanging in the balance in such a complicated and gripping way.” — Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“An impressive, very readable debut about identity.” —Magazin Buchkultur
“Claudia Petrucci has written an astonishing debut, in which she toys with identities. There is the mentally ill and fragile Giorgia, who can only leave behind her shy self on the stage; and there’s the theater itself, feeding on the game of opposing identities.” —WDR
“I must say it: it’s a stunning novel. Claudia Petrucci, born in 1990—how can she be so good?” —PULP
“An assertive incipit for Claudia Petrucci’s surprising debut novel, the story of a love triangle revolving around the theme of mutual manipulation. Petrucci is skilled at challenging the notion of self-knowledge, as well as the notion that we know others, by showing the extent to which people’s presumed transparency is as deceitful as their opacity. Petrucci transforms mental illness into something literary, an extremely sophisticated and intelligent psychological-thriller device. Thanks to the high-quality narration, the point is no longer credibility or scientific accuracy, but, rightfully, the intimate fictional truths of the characters.” —TuttoLibri
“Despite the high meta-literary risk it takes, the novel performs well, thanks to the simple and swift prose. A brilliant and enjoyable exploration of identity, of the projections we have of others, the sky full of imaginings that characterizes every romance. These are some of the many themes Petrucci skillfully incorporates into the rhythm of the story. The Performance is the debut of a talented writer.” —Corriere della Sera
“With dazzling narrative flair, an intricate and vibrant plot, and writing of rare elegance, The Performance stages the lives of Giorgia, Filippo, and Mauro, three characters who stick to the page yet are also separate from it. They lead their own lives, which are so sharp and three-dimensional that they end up overwhelming the reader.” —Il Messaggero
“In these pages, in Petrucci’s intense and sharp writing, throbs a deep question: from theater to everyday life, what is existence but a staging, a performance, the interpretation of a role, a practice of identity that risks intertwining with madness, a mask that becomes a face, a play that is in fact reality?” —Il Mattino
“Claudia Petrucci’s novel captures the reader immediately and makes some very good choices. The first is setting the events in the world of theater. Then there is the story that unfolds inside Filippo’s head. And, above all else, there’s Petrucci’s pure talent, which is the art of storytelling.” —Il Piccolo
“This novel prods us to admit that effort in relationships is not limited to the productive, charitable effort we put into accepting each other, day after day, year after year; it is also the work of recognizing ourselves in the faithful and incorruptible mirror found in the ones we have chosen.” —Il Tascabile
“Claudia Petrucci’s debut novel is a dazzling story that straddles the line between fiction and reality, between love and possession.” —Esquire
“A powerful, intense, and authentic debut novel that tackles complex themes with reverence and thoroughness, in astonishing prose.” —Satisfaction
“This is a manifestation of talent. The Performance is a miracle of perfection.” —VERONICA RAIMO, author of The Girl at the Door
“Solid architecture, elegant prose, an uncanny story that subtly unsettles the reader. Claudia Petrucci has crafted a wonderful debut novel.” —NADIA TERRANOVA, author of Farewell, Ghosts
“The witty plot, the sharp, subtle and suspenseful writing, and the emotions triggered by the main characters, especially Giorgia and Filippo, make The Performance a literary page-turner. It is like reading a perfect thriller, resonating with deep psychological nuances. A stunning novel on manipulation.” —Philippe Rey, French publisher
“The Performance is an outstanding novel on how we build our identity and elaborate the reality that surrounds us. Claudia Petrucci’s debut belongs to a rare category of books: high-quality literary novels that can become great commercial successes.” —Wagenbach, German publisher
