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Anna

Niccolò Ammaniti

3.46 · Rating details · 3,457 ratings · 443 reviews

It is some years since a virus killed all the adults. Now Sicily lies in ruins while the disease lies in wait, poised to claim the children as they reach adolescence.

Brave, stubborn thirteen-year-old Anna looks after her brother Astor in the cottage where their mother’s skeleton rests, lovingly decorated, in a locked bedroom. She tells him fearsome stories about monsters, ...more

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Paperback, 272 pages

Published July 31st 2017 by Text Publishing (first published September 29th 2015)

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Mar 09, 2018 Diane S ☔ rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 A virus has devastated Italy, all adults are thought to be dead. Children under the age of puberty are free if the virus, but soon after puberty the telling red blotches begin to appear. As Anna's mother lay dying she made Anna promise to take care of her younger brother Astor. She left them a book of important things to help them survive without her. They stay in the family home, Anna leaving to search for food to bring g home for Astor. They are surviving until a series of events that culm ...more

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Jun 20, 2017 Andrew Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, apocalyptic

The disease is called ‘la Rossa’ (the red one) due to the blotches that appear on the skin. There's no cure and a horrible death is the inevitable outcome once it strikes. And it’s been rampant, sweeping through Europe and killing everyone in its wake. Everyone, that is, except for pre-pubescent children. That’s the good news. That's the only good news. Once the child reaches puberty the dormant virus strikes and the same grisly fate awaits.

The year is 2020. Anna is thirteen and lives in Sicily The disease is called ‘la Rossa’ (the red one) due to the blotches that appear on the skin. There's no cure and a horrible death is the inevitable outcome once it strikes. And it’s been rampant, sweeping through Europe and killing everyone in its wake. Everyone, that is, except for pre-pubescent children. That’s the good news. That's the only good news. Once the child reaches puberty the dormant virus strikes and the same grisly fate awaits.

The year is 2020. Anna is thirteen and lives in Sicily with her younger brother. Her parents are dead – all adults are dead. Her mother had the forethought to write down some instructions before the pandemic reached her door: what to do with her body once she'd passed and, more importantly, some very practical schooling on what to do next. Her most fervent command being to ensure Anna stayed with her brother and found a way of getting to the mainland – maybe, just maybe, there'd be some adults left alive due to a cure having been found.

In time, Anna and her brother set out on their journey. Along the way they meet other children, all of them hungry and many of them unfriendly and even violent. It's a tough world out there. Many they come across have theories regarding how to cure the disease, each weirder and seemingly less likely than the last. Can they find a way to comply with their mother’s bidding and if so will it bear fruit? Who knows, but Anna is determined to give it a go.

Amanniti has written before about the plight of children: in Me and You and I’m not Scared, for instance, he showed how adept he is adept at tapping into the psyche the young and vulnerable. He pulls it off again here – very well indeed, in fact. There's more than a touch of The Road about this book although, grim as it is at times, it's not quite in the same league as McCarthy’s classic piece. There's also something of Lord of the Flies about it too, in the way we witness what a world might be like if it were to be run purely by children, many of whom have gone ferrel. It thought it compelling, thought provoking, sad, and yet also strangely uplifting. I liked it a lot and I hope many other readers take a close look at this book and also other output from this intriguingly gifted writer.

My thanks to Canongate books and NetGalley for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Aug 12, 2017 Joseph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, coming-of-age, fiction-in-translation, netgalley, science-fiction, italian-fiction

3.5 *

Niccolò Ammaniti is one of those writers who enjoy success with the reading public and general (if not unanimous) critical acclaim. One of the reasons for this must surely be that he brings a literary sensibility to popular genres, be it novels with a Mafia/"low-life" theme ( such as Io non ho paura and the Strega-winner Come Dio comanda) or bittersweet coming-of-age stories such as Io e te. Ammaniti's engagement with pop culture and his ability to read and reflect the "signs of the times" 3.5 *

Niccolò Ammaniti is one of those writers who enjoy success with the reading public and general (if not unanimous) critical acclaim. One of the reasons for this must surely be that he brings a literary sensibility to popular genres, be it novels with a Mafia/"low-life" theme ( such as Io non ho paura and the Strega-winner Come Dio comanda) or bittersweet coming-of-age stories such as Io e te. Ammaniti's engagement with pop culture and his ability to read and reflect the "signs of the times" is confirmed by the fact that his books and stories have been made into movies by directors such as Salvatores and Bertolucci, and the title of Ti prendo e ti porto via was appropriated by cult Italian rocker Vasco Rossi for his hit single of the same name (belted out in Blasco's trademark half-spoken/shouted style).

In Anna, Ammaniti turns his sights onto the YA market and the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre which seems to take up quite a chunk of new adult readership. He imagines a Sicily ravaged by a mysterious virus which wipes out adults, leaving only children as survivors. Until they reach puberty, because then the symptoms of the illness appear and they die as well. Further disasters (including uncontrolled fires and explosions) wreak havoc and break down all electronic means of communication. Unsure of the situation in the rest of the world (where, allegedly, a cure might have been found), and with adulthood fast approaching, the protagonist Anna sets out on a journey seeking survival for her and her younger brother Astor.

If I have a reservation about Ammaniti's latest novel, it is that it does not bring anything particularly new to the genre. We've come across "apocalypse by virus" before, not least in Shelley's proto-science-fiction novel The Last Man. There are also obvious parallels with The Road whilst the nature of the virus, dubbed "La Rossa", could be a tribute to Poe's Masque of the Red Death. As for children returning to a primitive, violent, cruel state, one could hardly better Lord of the Flies.

That said, nothing by Ammaniti should be written off. And Anna is, as most of his novels, engaging and, quite often, page-turning. The protagonist is an endearing character - strong and yet sensitive - bravely coming to terms with an oncoming adolescence which, for her, will mean almost certain death. This might not be a groundbreaking novel then, but certainly a well-crafted and gripping one, and several notches above the average YA fare.

I generally prefer to read Italian novels in the original, but I really enjoyed the idiomatic, fluent translation by Jonathan Hunt for Canongate Books. ...more

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Sep 12, 2017 Liz Barnsley rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I wasn't really fond of this one if I'm honest. The writing was beautiful, atmospheric and the scene setting for this post apocalyptic tale of children surviving in a world without adults was compelling. Hence 2* because I am a fan of beautiful writing.

Aside from the distraction of the descriptive prose though there wasn't that much here that got me going. Anna as a character is enduring, but for me the novel fell into expectation becoming reality. The plot followed a fairly generic line, whilst ...more

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Dec 04, 2020 Sue Gerhardt Griffiths rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2020-books, 2020-intl-male-author-challenge

Italian author Niccolo Ammaniti’s books are beautiful and shows creative skill.

The narrator was absolutely brilliant, if not for her narration I might have abandoned listening to this audiobook. The story was dark and grim to say the least but it was the starving dogs that upset me the most.

A deadly virus spreads throughout Sicily and has taken the lives of all adults leaving kids virtually untouched. A brother and sister learn to survive on their own with no electricity and a lack of food and ...more

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May 10, 2017 Text Publishing rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dystopia, thrillhouse, long-weekend-reads, thriller, fiction, ya, kid-and-teens, mind-blown, translated

‘A fearsomely gifted writer.’
Independent

‘Ammaniti’s writing is sharp, lean and pacy.’
Herald Sun

‘Ammaniti excels…in capturing the thought processes and fears and desires of children… once you start reading him, you can’t put him down.’
Sunday Telegraph (UK)

‘Surreal but somehow also wholly believable. This book is repulsive and terrifying in all the right ways.’
The Best Books We’ve Read This Year (So Far), Readings

‘One of Italy's brightest literary stars.’
Observer

‘Ammaniti's prose is faultless from ...more

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Apr 15, 2020 Kimbofo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reviews

A deadly virus has killed every adult in Italy and the world has irrevocably changed. There’s no electricity, no transport, no food. The cities are empty, the roads quiet. The world is run by children, who fight among themselves for survival, and feral dogs roam the countryside. The date? October 2020!

Reading Niccolò Ammaniti’s post-apocalyptic novel Anna right now was quite a freaky experience. When I found it lurking on my Kindle I had no idea about its contents. There was no blurb, I just kne ...more

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Oct 01, 2017 Andy Weston rated it really liked it

Shelves: translated, italy, science-fiction, dystopian

I am not a big reader of science fiction but post-apocalyptic type novels are always of interest. I very much enjoyed The Last Of Us by Rob Ewing which has a similar premise. In Ewing's novel a pandemic wipes out the population of a Scottish island and the only survivors are a small group of children. In MR Carey's The Girl With All The Gifts it is not the adults, but the children who are getting wiped out (or turned to vampires). The book was less enjoyable, but still of interest.
Ammaniti's no ...more

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Jun 19, 2018 Bridget rated it really liked it

It is a while since I ready a dystopia and I've had this a while in the pile beside the bed, I have read a few of this author's novels and was looking forward to it. Anna is a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, she lives in an idyllic setting in the Italian countryside. She is bringing up her brother alone, scavenging for food and desperate to keep him safe, which means she needs to survive until he is old enough to manage. There are no more grown-ups, they have all been killed by a virus whic ...more

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Oct 19, 2018 K. rated it liked it

Shelves: setting-europe, 2018, audience-adult, dystopian, speculative-fiction, library, difficult-topics, translated

Trigger warnings: death, gore, violence, animal death, animal attack, death of a parent, alcohol abuse, mentions of rape.

2.5 stars.

This was a very peculiar book. Veeeery peculiar. The gist of it is that a plague has killed everyone over the age of 14 and a girl who's rapidly approaching the age of 14 is trying to keep her little brother safe. And don't get me wrong, the concept was great. But the plot itself meandered more than I would have liked, and I'm not sure how much of the meandering fe ...more

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May 29, 2020 Ана Петровска rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I wish I could've loved it more but I just don't see this one sticking with me. I guess it's not the type of book that could amaze me. It's pretty sad and I really don't want to imagine a post apocalyptic world right now. ...more

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Jun 23, 2018 Anna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Sicily, 2020, a virus has swept through the globe, killing everyone past puberty. Human life has been reduced to childhood. Anna, a young teenager, is protecting her younger brother, Astor. Living and savaging from the security of their cottage. WhenAstor is kidnapped by a gang of blue children Anna travels through the ruins of the abandoned cities and into the vast and dangerous countryside to bring him safely home.

Anna is not an original plot. The things that happen are all quite predictable. ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Jeanette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It isn't often that i read this genre, as i'm not a great lover of dystopian stories. I'm glad that i did eventually get around to reading this book, as much better than i had thought. Enjoyed.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, voluntarily given. ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Mairi Byatt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Beautifully written if devastatingly sad yet relevant novel, hope there is continuation?

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Oct 14, 2018 Sivananthi T rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A riveting read. My first Ammaniti book and will most probably read more. Talented writer, writes with pace and passion. Exploration of modern themes of loneliness, abandonment, and self-discovery.

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Jun 20, 2017 Emi Bevacqua rated it liked it

Shelves: euro, fiction, sci-fi

Coming from me, 3 stars for sci-fi is pretty much a rave review. I don't like the genre (lurching from one violent scene to the next and the next, culminating in annihilation) but this was a quick read that I didn't hate, about nearly-nubile Anna and her little brother Astor, two Sicilian survivors in a post-apocalyptic world void of grownups, contaminated by a killer virus that lurks dormant until puberty.

Ammaniti does a great job providing detailed backstories for many of the minor characters ...more

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Aug 05, 2017 Katherine Sunderland rated it liked it · review of another edition

It feels strange to say I enjoyed this novel which is so full of terrifying events and graphic descriptions of a world that is rotting but I did. Anna is quite an extraordinary book; a dystopian novel set in the not too far future in a world without grown ups.

The opening rips the reader out the security of their armchair and throws them headlong into a scene that is more terrifying than any horror film I have seen. The imagery and chilling atmosphere is highly effective and despite the horror, It feels strange to say I enjoyed this novel which is so full of terrifying events and graphic descriptions of a world that is rotting but I did. Anna is quite an extraordinary book; a dystopian novel set in the not too far future in a world without grown ups.

The opening rips the reader out the security of their armchair and throws them headlong into a scene that is more terrifying than any horror film I have seen. The imagery and chilling atmosphere is highly effective and despite the horror, it is compelling reading and stunning writing. We are pulled into a mysterious setting of "crackling neon lights", dimly lit corridors and bodies strewn in unnatural positions indicating painful, reluctant deaths.

We then move forward four years and meet Anna, our young protagonist, and to an equally frightening scene as she is chased by a dog. It's a bit relentless but the detailed description means the story is very easy to visualise. The reader uses the clues, hints and reactions of Anna to try and determine what is happening to her and what kind of society she is having to operate within. There are plenty of ominous statements like "Cold things had disappeared with the Grown-ups" and a huge sense of foreboding and hopelessness.

The story is told through Anna's point of view but I did find the flashbacks to Anna's moments with her mother just before she died powerful and poignant. The extracts from her mother's notebook with instructions telling the children how they can try to survive once she is dead were particularly moving. The writing itself for these sections was very practical and yet evoked a sense of desperation. They reflected the full impact of the outbreak of the virus on the world. Anna clings to these pages like a Bible, a litany and the only way she has of connecting with her mother. It's heartbreaking to think of a mother's last words to her children being about how to 'live in the dark' and her knowledge that she was deserting them to a world that was crumbling around them is conveyed well.

Once Anna has set off on her journey the pace picks up and with more characters, more drama, more interaction and more dangerous situations emerging; the novel becomes more action driven. Essentially though, for me this book was about the characters. I was fascinated by Anna's mother and was liked how her presence, influence and own back story was weaved in and out of the present moment. All the key characters were well crafted and easy to picture and hear speaking.

The high quality prose is sustained throughout the whole book. It is always lyrical and full of captivating imagery despite the bleak, dystopian setting. There is a often a weighty sense of silence and darkness and it is quite an oppressive read in places. But Ammaniti's polished, accomplished writing is exquisite and always eloquent. I enjoyed this novel. It was a challenging read but a rewarding one. ...more

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Aug 22, 2017 Mandy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Set in Sicily in the very near future (2020 to be precise) all adults have died from a virus and the surviving children know that when they reach puberty they too will get the virus and die. Thirteen-year-old Anna is left looking after her younger brother Astor, trying to cope in a hostile world, without adults, with diminishing food and medical stocks and, rather predictably, with gangs of often threatening fellow children. Anna decides that if she and Astor could reach the mainland then maybe ...more

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Jul 27, 2017 Sharon J rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed-for-publisher, giveaways

An incredible story told with candour.
The title is 'Anna' as she is indeed the focus of this new reality where the adults die of a virus but spares children until they too become adults. We are taken for a journey with Anna, who with her brother Astor, are survivors in an incredibly harsh world. One of the people Anna meets, Pietro, makes a comment: "This world doesn't exist. It's a nightmare we can't wake up from."
The dangers of this new world are vast - ranging from gangs of wild children an ...more

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Aug 19, 2020 Life Couch rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

What a ride it was! I am putting this top shelves, one of the best 2020 books so far. If you love a slight touch of dystiopia, mixed with the most beautiful prose and going to the roots of existence type of story, you will love Anna. If you care for children and animals - and feel the need to protect vulnerables, you will adore Anna. I picked it up cause I found blurb interesting, with all the viruses around us. Didnt expect much at all, didnt even care enough to read the reviews...boy, the sham ...more

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Apr 13, 2019 Kirsten Fleetwood rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Right, if ever such a virus comes to pass I will be euthanising my children. There's no way I would leave them to survive in such a cruel world knowing they're going to die a horrible death anyway.
I have a daughter called Anna and I loved this author's previous novel "I'm Not Scared", which is why I immediately snapped this book up; my Anna has a 7 year old brother, my 'baby', which is why I felt such horror when reading it. In fact, it was the gut churning anxiety about Astor's fate that made ...more

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Oct 09, 2019 Kristina rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: italian, ya-dystopian

This was a quick read with graphic (sexual and violent) depictions of children surviving in a world where adults were killed by a disease called Red Fever. True to Ammaniti's journalistic style of writing, the sentences were short and to the point and chapters were divided into smaller sections. I didn't connect to the characters, but it got me thinking about how people would act and what would they do if there were no modern ammenities (electricity, water, shops, schools....). ...more

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Feb 24, 2020 Ashley Baxter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I am a sucker for post apocalyptic stories. I don’t need zombies or fights to the death, #anna by #niccoloammaniti captures that perfectly. He presents a adultless picture of Italy and Anna’s life. A simple yet moving story, for fans of the impending trump apocalypse this is worth picking up

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Jul 14, 2018 Wilde Sky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Children struggle to survive after a virus wipes out the adult population.

The basic idea was reasonable but the writing / plot were a bit clunky.

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Dec 30, 2018 Brian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A gruelling fantasy novel of a society in which all the adults have died. Definitely for teens, probably for adults as well.

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Apr 05, 2020 Алекс Ристовски rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow...

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Sep 30, 2020 Mandy marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, dystopian-apocalyptic, abandoned-for-now

Had to give up on this one as there was a glitch in my audio copy and it stopped two thirds of the way through and refused to play any more............to be continued

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Jul 24, 2017 Karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaways

This was a good read. I'm not often a fan of dystopian novels, but this is an exception. It is an easy read, and I found I wanted to see how the children in the story would move past the obstacles to their survival.
I received a free copy of this book. ...more

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Jul 05, 2017 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: maternity-leave-reads, 2017-books-read, advanced-reading-copy

I found myself gripped by this book. I just had to follow what happened with Anna and Astor, I just had to know what how things were going to turn out.
Whilst the main storyline of this book isn’t anything new - adults dying from a virus and leaving children to rule the world, until they come of age and the virus hits them too - I didn’t find ‘Anna’ boring at all. There was heaps of action. But also quite a lot of tender moments.
This book was a beautiful look at the special relationship between ...more

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Aug 27, 2017 AA88 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a non-spoiler review.

Let me just tell you before I start: I implore you to read this book and give it a go!

Anna is a young adult novel that follows a young 13 year old girl in a version of dystopian Italy. The novel starts out based in Sicily. Basically, at the point where the novel begins, a virus has killed off all the adults (we’re not sure if in the whole world or just where Anna is). So there are only children left until they reach adolescence where they also get the virus and die. ...more

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About Niccolò Ammaniti

Niccolò Ammaniti

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Niccolò Ammaniti was born in Rome in 1966. He has written three novels and a collection of short stories. He won the prestigious Italian Viareggio-Repaci Prize for Fiction with his bestselling novel I'm Not Scared, which has been translated into thirty-five languages. ...more