The Bitter Water of the Lake

In the 1990s, Gaia's family moves from the neglected peripheries of Rome to an idyllic lakeside town in search of a new life that will lift them out of poverty. Each of them bears their own scars: Gaia's mother is fiercely determined to secure a better future for her children at any cost; her father, a once proud man, now suffers in bitter silence after a devastating accident; her anarchist older brother rebels against the political apathy he sees at home; and her young twin brothers wordlessly bear witness to a family in decay.

When Gaia meets two local girls, Agata and Carlotta, the trio builds a fragile friendship. Gaia's encounters with callous boys and contemptuous teachers convince her that she might always be an outsider, excluded from a privileged life and beyond the possibility of happiness.

When tragedy strikes her friend group, as more friends slip away and her family fractures, Gaia vows to make the world pay for all the things it has denied her.

Winner of the Campiello Prize, The Bitter Water of the Lake is an unflinching portrait of a generation striving to make a place for themselves in a world markedly different from the one their parents promised them.

'Caminito's gripping narrative takes many twists and turns but always remains focused on her compelling protagonist, so painfully vulnerable and unhappy that we understand even her most egregious acts... Ferocious and riveting.' Kirkus Reviews

'Marked by aching realism, this volatile coming-of-age novel is about the precariousness of growing up.' Foreword Reviews

'Raw, radiant, and relentless—Giulia Caminito's unforgettable novel ignites like a match struck in darkness, inviting readers into a world where beauty and brutality exist in perfect, devastating harmony. You won't just finish this book; you'll emerge from it transformed. Achingly intimate and visceral.' Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman and Godshot

'Powerfully evokes the lonely rage of being female, poor, young, bright, and powerless. Giulia Caminito's Gaia is a heroic antiheroine with flaming hair and an indomitable will, and this novel is a firecracker, illuminating as it colourfully explodes.' Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner award-winning author of Welcome Home, Stranger

'A devastating, tender, utterly beautiful coming-of-age story. I am in awe of Caminito's writing, both unflinching and generous.' Ayegl Sava, author of The Anthropologists

'Achingly stylish and emotionally resonant, The Lake's Water Is Never Sweet maps the razor's edge between tenderness and violence, revealing how the wounds of social inequality can transform a young woman's yearning for connection into something far more dangerous. This is a stunning and profoundly moving novel from an outrageously gifted writer.' Kimberly King Parsons, author of We Were the Universe

'Both harsh and hypnotic, this deeply observed coming-of-age story hinges on two ideas: betrayal by others, betrayal of self. In a series of breathtaking and heartbreaking moments, we watch in what often feels like real time the awakening of a brave girl.' Betsy Lerner, author of Shred Sisters

The Bitter Water of the Lake is a striking coming-of-age novel that demands to be read. It is provocative, compelling, and darkly poetic, achieving a powerful and humane vision at the end. Gaia, the protagonist, struggles to reconcile her own needs with those of her forceful mother while navigating the often careless, often cruel world outside her home. Gaia's voice is unique, incisive, at once intimate and expansive, unsparing and ironic. Born of destitution, it challenges and upsets, leaving a lasting mark on the readers. At times lustful, at times harrowing, the story has a deep sense of searching, without apology yet with ferocity, for what might become a meaningful life. Something too close to the heart is happening on the page.' Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry, author of Between Dog and Wolf

'In a visionary and original novel, so literary and lush in its prose, the protagonist Gaia, while facing tragedies and separations, experiences a ferocious determinism that falls upon her and seems to deny any possibility of redemption.' Corriere della sera

'Caminito writes about first friendships and first loves, money troubles, family arguments, betrayals—without resorting to ordinary clichés of the "dolce vita". Caminito's narrative voice is direct, raw, cold, but never distant. This book won't let anyone ever get away—like the lake of Bracciano.' Der Spiegel