De acero

Synopsis of De acero

«De acero» is the coming-of-age novel by Silvia Avallone, published by Alfaguara in paperback (368 pages, in Spanish).

Anna and Francesca are two fourteen-year-old friends in Piombino, the steel city where their parents work. Between the beach and an industrial landscape with no future, they discover that beauty can be a weapon or a trap. A story of friendship, sexual awakening, and the struggle to find a place of one's own when everything pushes toward surrender.

Originally published in Italian as «Acciaio» in 2010. It is part of Alfaguara's Literaturas collection and received, among others, the Campiello Prize and the L'Express Readers' Prize.

For readers of contemporary fiction and coming-of-age novels: a portrait of adolescence in working-class Italy.