Tangerinn follows an Italian Moroccan woman's unsettled life between London and Calabria

Emanuela Anechoum’s debut novel, Tangerinn, follows Mina, an Italian Moroccan woman who left southern Italy for London in her early 20s and returns to the Calabrian coast after the sudden death of her father, Omar.

The novel presents Mina as stalled in England—nearly friendless and financially precarious—with motives for leaving Italy that remain mysterious even to her. In London she lives with Liz, a wealthy Brit described as an orthorexic “digital activist,” and clashes with her older sister Aisha, who stayed home to care for their mother and the bar Omar ran. The Tangerinn, Omar’s bar, is portrayed as a haven for immigrants in the town.

Reviewer Joumana Khatib describes the book as melancholic and notes that much of it is written in the second person, addressed to Omar, as it recounts his life before arriving in Italy. Lucy Rand’s translation is praised for capturing the novel’s register, and the book draws parallels between Mina’s and Omar’s migrations to challenge linear narratives about leaving home.

Tangerinn is published by Europa Editions; the review notes it is 254 pages and available in paperback for $19. The reviewer says the novel is a welcome rejoinder to prevailing ideas about migration and expresses a wish to see more stories of this kind.

Key Topics

Culture, Emanuela Anechoum, Mina, Omar, Calabria, London