This newly translated novel was a considerable success on its publication in Italy, winning awards in spite of its rather depressing content.

The anniversary of the title is when the narrator celebrates ten years since he cut off all ties with his parents and escaped from a tyrannical father and a submissive mother. The father ruled the household by sanctions and violence which left the son, the narrator, weak and lacking in confidence. Finally, moving away and developing new relationships allowed him to escape and find a life of his own.

The father’s violence and control is pathological and the mother’s response is timidity and acceptance even to the point of not protecting her son. It’s a very odd family but possibly not untypical and even when the father smashes up the apartment and the police are called everything is brushed over. Eventually the son escapes and finds a new marriage and family. He seems reasonably content.

The appeal of the book must lie in the unfolding of this catalogue of episodes where it is possible to see the insecurity of the father as well as his violence. He has to keep everything close to him and under tight control as if he fears anything else, and when things get slightly disturbed he becomes frighteningly enraged.

Perhaps, the book is a study of totalitarianism more generally and the way that totalitarian regimes seek to keep control by sporadic violence, rules, punishments and regulation so that gradually those living within such a regime become conditioned to it.

It’s a powerful read and it must have struck a chord with some readers. Maybe you shouldn’t buy a copy for your father!

(The Anniversary is translated by Geoffrey Brock and published by Penguin. Thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for an advance copy.)