Review of 'The city and the house' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
It took me longer than usual to read this book. I was savoring every page. It is incredibly well written and so emotional that sometimes I would have to put the book down just to sit with my thoughts about a particularly devastating letter (it is an epistolary novel - the best I've read). What impressed me most of all was how themes and characters snuck up on the reader. Plot points are here but they aren't fussed over so the effect on the reader is that one experiences a swelling wave of narrative and can only really discuss it after the fact.
I highly HIGHLY recommend this and I'll certainly be looking for more of Ginzburg's work in English.