Alaska

Alaska, published by Bollati Boringhieri, is the new novel by Valentina Maini, the Bologna-based author who made her fiction debut with La mischia and quickly established herself as one of the most distinctive voices in new Italian writing. Its protagonist is Maia, a young aspiring artist who, in a Venice suspended between reality and hallucination, enters a clandestine relationship with Sergio, a married fisherman much older than her, a bond that pulls her into a vortex of desire and possible personal shipwreck. Around this forbidden love story, the novel builds a network of presences that become just as central, recurring fantasies of a mysterious, remote island that gives the book its title, and above all a deep bond with Louis, the young man who takes Maia into his eccentric Venetian apartment and gradually becomes her most stable emotional anchor, in counterpoint to her volatile passion for Sergio.

Through these relationships, Maia is forced to confront the deepest wounds of her childhood, in a painful but necessary process the author stages without flinching, following her protagonist as she sinks as deeply into love as into her own mind, in a state permanently balanced between sanity and vertigo. Like La mischia before it, the novel moves in a lyrical, fragmented style characteristic of Maini's writing, weaving together different timelines and a strong introspective streak, avoiding a linear plot in favor of a progression built on images and sensations. The underlying question, made explicit by the author herself, is what it truly means to become an artist, and how the line between balance and collapse, between love and friendship, between desire and the need for protection, is in fact unstable and constantly shifting.

Less geared toward the mass commercial bestseller audience than other titles of the season, Alaska has found a devoted readership among serious literary readers and a very favorable critical reception, confirming Maini as one of the most mature and closely watched Italian authors under 40. The novel appeared among the standout titles in the quality-focused ranking curated by the magazine L'Indiscreto in 2026, a recognition that certifies its literary value beyond its niche place in the publishing landscape.