Silvia (Maya Caruso, Echo)

Midlife awakening lies at the heart of Maya Caruso’s impressive debut novel, Silvia. This character-driven novel follows 42-year-old Silvia, a divorced daughter of a widowed Italian matriarch, Silvia Senior, whose dream is to see her daughter married with kids and producing homemade lasagnes at an impossible speed. Silvia, however, is an independent woman paying her own mortgage, devoted to her career and possibly perimenopausal. Their co-dependent mother–daughter relationship is layered, fuelled equally by love and resentment. It also provides a glimpse into the experiences of being a first-generation Australian – and the emotional cost of resisting family traditions and social expectations. Silvia’s carefully managed life takes a turn when 2 people from her past re-enter it, forcing her to reassess old friendships and confront an unresolved love story from her youth. What follows is her struggle to open her heart while resisting superficiality and patriarchal pressure, discovering that holding firm boundaries is sometimes the only way to stay true to oneself. Caruso’s witty humour and seductive voice make Silvia a delight to read, much like talking to a best friend over cocktails on the beach. Her polished prose, unexpected descriptions and sharp dialogue invite comparison with writers such as Mhairi McFarlane and Marian Keyes, making Silvia a strong choice for book clubs, particularly for readers who enjoyed Jojo Moyes’s Someone Else’s Shoes and Kathy Lette’s The Revenge Club.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Nadia Heisler is a CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) writer with a background in journalism and a passion for books. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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