Thirsty Sea [Erica Mou | Translator : Clarissa Botsford]

How does one cope with not fitting in? For Maria, it starts with a tiny internal voice that comments ironically on the people around her. To them, she seems happy: the perfect husband, a new start-up to manage, a nice home. But that’s just the surface. Below the sea of normalcy, there are sharks from the past, circling, waiting for their chance. Will Maria escape them, or will she sink into the depths? Novel by Erica Mou. Translated from the Italian by Clarissa Botsford. ERICA MOU (Apulia, 1990) studied Literature, Publishing and Journalism at the University of Bari. She is an Italian singersongwriter who has won numerous international awards. Thirsty Sea, winner of the Readers Award of the Lungano Literary Festival 2020, is her debut novel, and was selected as one of the books of 2022 by the Times Literary Supplement. Erica wrote this book in the kitchen of her rented accommodation in London. CLARISSA BOTSFORD grew up in the UK and holds degrees in Modern Languages and Comparative Education. She moved to Rome as an English lector and ended up staying. A taste for literary translation developed later in life, having worked in the fields of journalism, publishing, non-fiction translation, intercultural education and training. Clarissa has translated numerous authors from Italian, including Elvira Dones, Viola Ardone, Alessandro Baricco, Concita De Gregorio, Sacha Naspini and Lia Levi. She is also a musician and a humanist celebrant.