Still looking for a great read? Sign up for our newsletters and never miss a recommendation! Never miss a recommendation!
    • Monthly Favorites
    • Excerpts
    • Giveaways
    • Book Apothecary
    • TBR Time
  • |
    • Articles
    • Videos
    • Author Interviews
    • 8 Great Questions
    • Author Essays
    • Longform
  • |
    • RIF Podcasts​
    • Marlon & Jake Read Dead People
    • The Adaptables
  • |
  • Subscribe

Delia Ephron’s Siracusa Reading List

Marriage, motherhood, friendship, and travel in five books.

By DELIA EPHRON • 4 years ago

“Husbands and wives collaborate,” Lizzie says, “hiding even from themselves who is calling the shots and who is along for the ride.”

My novel Siracusa follows two couples and a child on vacation in Italy. Michael, a famous writer, and his wife, Lizzie, a journalist, travel with their friends from Maine—Finn, Taylor, and their daughter, Snow.

Told Rashomon-style with alternating points of view, the couples stumble upon lies and infidelities past and present. “From the start,” says Taylor, “it was a conspiracy between Lizzie and Finn to be together.” Snow, ten years old and precociously drawn into the adult drama, becomes a catalyst for catastrophe.

When I was researching Siracusa, I read books that I thought I my characters would read on their vacation, books about Sicily, novels I admired because they had emotional depth and, at the same time, kept you in their grip, riveted, wondering what would happen next. I wanted both things to be true in my book.

What We're Reading This Week

Get recommendations for the greatest books around straight to your inbox every week.
Great! You've signed up successfully!
We are experiencing an error, please try again.
By clicking Sign Up!, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Penguin Random House Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and agree to receive news and updates from Read It Forward and Penguin Random House.

Siracusa should provoke intense opinions and discussion because, while it has the pacing of a psychological thriller, it’s also an exploration of marriage, motherhood, friendship, and the meaning of travel. I hope you will find it a lens to examine your own relationships—hopefully in a book club and among friends, with an Aperol Spritz in hand.


Featured image: Zoom Team/Shutterstock.com

  • The cover of the book The Red and The Black

    The Red and The Black

    Stendhal

    Buy From Penguin Random House
    Also Available From
    Barnes & NobleBookshop.orgApple BooksAmazon

    This masterpiece of social observation was published in 1830. My character, Michael, is writing a modern version of this book, about Julien, a man who craves the attention of society and at the same time distains it. Michael and Lizzie are a window into the literary world of New York, and Michael identifies with Julien.

    Buy From Penguin Random House
    Also Available From
    Barnes & NobleBookshop.orgApple BooksAmazon
     
  • The cover of the book To Each His Own

    To Each His Own

    Leonardo Sciacia

    Buy From Penguin Random House
    Also Available From
    Barnes & NobleBookshop.orgApple BooksAmazon

    A great fun Italian mystery writer. When I travel, I like to read books that take place where I am, and his mysteries take place in Sicily. Lizzie reads this book on the vacation.

    Buy From Penguin Random House
    Also Available From
    Barnes & NobleBookshop.orgApple BooksAmazon
     
  • The cover of the book Siracusa
    Featured Book

    Siracusa

    Delia Ephron

    Buy From Penguin Random House
    Also Available From
    Barnes & NobleBookshop.orgApple BooksAmazon
    Buy From Penguin Random House
    Also Available From
    Barnes & NobleBookshop.orgApple BooksAmazon
     

About DELIA EPHRON

Delia Ephron is a bestselling author and screenwriter. She has written novels, including the New York Times bestselling Siracusa, The Lion Is In and Hanging Up; humor books for all ages, including How to Eat Like a Child and Do I Have to Say Hello?; and nonfiction, most recently Sister Mother Husband Dog (etc.). Her films include You’ve Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hanging Up (based on her novel), and Michael. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Her hit play Love, Loss, and What I Wore (co-written with Nora Ephron) ran for more than two years off-Broadway and has been performed all over the world. She lives in New York City.

Read it Forward: Always Directing You To Your Next Great Read

At Read It Forward, we have a healthy obsession with authors, stories, and the readers who love them.

About Us
Affiliate Program Disclosure
Subscribe for Giveaways + Recommendations

Every week we host a new literary giveaway! Enter to win our favorite new reads, bookish goodies, and so much more.

Get weekly book recommendations delivered right to your inbox and find out What We’re Reading.

Subscribe to our Newsletters
Explore
  • Find your Next Book!
  • Essays and More
  • Author Interviews
  • Our Monthly Favorites

Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Copyright ©1995-2021 Penguin Random House. All rights reserved.

[email_signup id="4"]
Great! You've signed up successfully!
We are experiencing an error, please try again.
By clicking Subscribe, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Penguin Random House Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and agree to receive news and updates from Read It Forward and Penguin Random House.