Review of Veronica Raimo’s ‘Lost on Me’, translated by Leah Janeczko and longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024

Veronica Raimo’s Lost on Me is a literary feast for lovers of Fleabag and Natalia Ginzburg’s novels. Like Fleabag, Raimo’s protagonist, Vero, is a young-ish woman who puts a comic spin on her failed relationships. In another instance, Vero’s father calls her ‘oca’ which means goose or bimbo, he also lovingly calls her a cow. For this reason, whenever I hear a woman called a cow, a vixen, a cougar, a bitch, I am filled with an absurd feeling of tenderness, and the memory of my father prevails over my indignation.” The book also deals with women’s rights over their bodies. You think it’s not possible, but it is.” After her father’s death, suddenly one day, Vero stops feeling like a daughter.