Originally published as Aldabra, la tartaruga che amava Shakespeare, this engrossing allegorical fantasy from Italian children's novelist Silvana Gandolfi addresses itself to some rather intense themes, from mental illness and the institutionalization of the elderly, to our understanding of death and the nature of choice. A slim volume that can be interpreted in many ways, it speaks to some of the most difficult experiences a child can encounter - generational conflict within families, the illness of a loved one, the impermanence of our time with one another - in a way that feels both original and authentic.

Elisa had spent her entire life traipsing across Venice to visit with her English-born, Shakespeare-loving Nonna Eia, but it was only in her tenth year, as she begins to notice changes in her beloved grandmother, that she observes and questions the strange lack of relationship between her own mother and Nonna Eia. Her discovery of the reasons for this estrangement, her decision to protect Nonna Eia at all cost, and her bewilderment and grief, as Nonna Eia slowly transforms into an Aldabra Giant Tortoise, are all poignantly laid out in the story.

Gandolfi's writing (and Lynne Sharon Shwartz's translation) is accomplished, managing to make the surreal aspects of Aldabra, or The Tortoise Who Loved Shakespeare completely credible, while also capturing the emotional undercurrents of each scene. Any child whose life has been touched by mental illness will find much to ponder here. I myself was both fascinated and moved, and will be thinking of the story for some time. It's a shame that none of the author's other children's books - she has penned several - have been translated! ( )