Coming of Age

Stories of growing up, first experiences, and transformation.

All countries Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Australia Azerbaijan Bahamas Belize Bosnia and Herzegovina Brunei Burundi Cabo Verde Central African Republic Finland France Greece India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Morocco Netherlands Norway Palestine Romania Slovenia Sweden Tanzania United Kingdom United States Zambia

Newest first Oldest first

Astronaut!

Romania, 1989. As Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist dictatorship approaches its end, the country is gripped by fear, suspicion, and absurd official propaganda. Amid rationing, secret informers, and carefully monitored conversations, a series of mysterious murders captures the public’s attention. Authorities blame a man-eating bear, but the truth proves far more complicated. Two unlikely protagonists find themselves caught in the unfolding mystery. Constantin, an idealistic police detective who dreams of writing fairy tales, is tasked with investigating the deaths. Meanwhile, Lia, a curious and rebellious schoolgirl who longs for colour and beauty in her grey surroundings, becomes involved in an elderly neighbour’s clandestine resistance against the regime. Blending detective fiction, political satire, and fairy-tale elements, Astronaut! captures the surreal contradictions of life under authoritarian rule. Through the contrasting perspectives of an idealistic adult and an imaginative child, Oana Aristide explores courage, complicity, and the power of ordinary people to challenge injustice. The novel is both a tense mystery and a moving coming-of-age story about finding hope in a society built on fear and deception.

The Beginnings

Antonio Moresco

The first volume of Antonio Moresco’s ambitious Games of Eternity trilogy, The Beginnings is an experimental, dreamlike novel that follows an unnamed protagonist through three distinct stages of life: seminarian, political revolutionary, and aspiring writer. Moving through the upheavals of twentieth-century Italy, the protagonist struggles to find his place in a world shaped by religious institutions, ideological movements, and the elusive possibilities of literature. Rather than following a conventional narrative, Moresco creates a shifting, surreal world in which events unfold with strange immediacy and familiar realities become unsettling. The novel challenges traditional storytelling, offering an unusual exploration of transformation, rebellion, and the search for artistic identity. Both philosophical and unpredictable, it marks the beginning of a literary journey that pushes the boundaries of contemporary Italian fiction.

How to Make a Woman

How to Make a Woman

Marie Darrieussecq

How to Make a Woman follows Rose and Solange, two lifelong friends growing up in a small village in the French Basque Country during the 1980s. Although they share a childhood, their lives begin to diverge dramatically as they enter adulthood. Rose, thoughtful and conventional, moves to Bordeaux to study psychology while maintaining her relationship with her childhood sweetheart, Christian. Solange, rebellious and restless, becomes pregnant at fifteen and eventually leaves her familiar surroundings to pursue a career as an actress. As their paths take them through Bordeaux, Paris, London, and Hollywood, the two women confront the expectations imposed on them by society, the demands of relationships, and the challenges of defining themselves on their own terms. Their friendship endures despite their differences, revealing how women can remain connected even as their lives move in opposite directions. With wit and emotional precision, Darrieussecq explores female friendship, sexuality, motherhood, ambition, and the social forces that shape women’s identities. The novel offers a nuanced portrait of growing up and becoming oneself in a world that continually tries to define what a woman should be.

About this theme

Books: 39
Countries: 30

Countries with this theme

Antigua and Barbuda

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Central African Republic