Lost on Me follows Vero’s chaotic journey from an eccentric childhood into an adulthood filled with impulsive escapades, mismatched romances, and hilarious missteps. With a mother whose constant anxieties and guilt-tripping foil every plan, Vero's attempts at independence—whether running away to Paris or scheming up a fake clothing stall to fund a Mexico trip—often land her in absurd situations. Her knack for invention and deceit quickly transforms her into both a storyteller and an accidental con artist, capturing the blurry lines between creativity and deception. With wry humor and keen insight, Lost on Me is a warm yet sharp exploration of family, independence, and the art of crafting one’s own narrative.

Absolutely hilarious I can see so many of the quirks and eccentricities of my own family. Speed read through this it really was so good

I found this to be a warm, and often hilarious book that I really looked forward to going back to. The protagonist lets you into her most private thoughts and experiences. Her family is brought to life with all their idiosyncrasies; something that I love in an autobiography. There are reminders throughout that this narrative is autofiction and so you do not know where the boundaries lie, they are not intrusive though and take nothing from the pleasure of stories, there is reflection by the narrator though that will get you thinking on the subject. I have read in some other review that this is like the naughty grandchild of Natalia Ginzburg's Family Lexicon and I would have to say I could not agree more (another good one to read). Veronica has definitely written a book that isn't 'frosty', even if she does still keep a little bit of distance by keeping the lines blurry. I am sure that I will re-read this at some point, it's too enjoyable not to.

If you like no plot, character-focused anecdotal books, this is the one for you. Translated from Italian, Lost On Me is a bildungsroman following Vero, who comes of age during 1980s/90s Rome in a neurotic family. The novel is fast-paced and witty, made up of vignettes of Vero’s childhood schemes to her current day life as a writer. it feels very memoir-esque / auto-fictional, so it’s perfect if you enjoy funny, stream of consciousness books with a chaotic family focus.

It’s no secret I’ve a penchant for all things Italian, including, of course, books. Lost on Me (Niente di Vero) is a quirky little coming-of-age story set in Rome, filled with humour, neuroses and scathing explorations of girlhood. Our protagonist, like the author, is named Veronica and lives in Rome with her parents and older brother. The brother, Christian, is the golden child, the genius whose shadow Veronica must live under. Her parents, well, their style is maladjusted, to put it mildly: the omnipresent mother is devoted to her anxiety and self-denial through her Fioretti, and her father ruled to the extreme by hygienic and architectural obsessions. Lost on Me shows Veronica’s childhood and adulthood on full display. We are invited into her home to witness the absurd, the loving, and the traumatic. But perhaps the most overcoming emotional experience here is isolation - from not being allowed out to play with the other children as a smallie to seemingly being returned ‘home’ at every conceivable opportunity thereafter through her mother's tracking methods and guilt-tripping mastery. Her adulthood is then spent trying to reconcile this all through her writing. Or maybe this is where the literal meaning of Niente di Vero (nothing is true) comes in, and her story blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, embellished for impact? How reliable is our narrator? As the saying goes, “They can take away everything but our memories”, but what if your memories are hazy and unreliable? Who’d be interested in them? Well, if it makes a story as compelling as Lost on Me, then many, I imagine. Lost on Me has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024, and I feel it’s a strong contender. 4⭐️ Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley. As always, this is an honest review.