Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
Add The Betrothed to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

The Betrothed

A Novel

A Novel

A Novel

A Novel

By Alessandro Manzoni
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Read by Ari Fliakos and Susan Vinciotti Bonito
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

By Alessandro Manzoni
Read by Ari Fliakos and Susan Vinciotti Bonito
Preface by Jhumpa Lahiri
Translated by Michael F. Moore

Best Seller

Part of Modern Library Classics

Paperback $19.00

Sep 03, 2024 | ISBN 9780812978810

Hardcover $29.00

Sep 13, 2022 | ISBN 9780679643562

Ebook $4.99

Sep 13, 2022 | ISBN 9780593241486

Audiobook Download $27.50

Sep 13, 2022 | 1359 Minutes

All Formats
+
    The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
    Paperback $19.00
    Sep 03, 2024 | ISBN 9780812978810

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (3) +
    • $19.00

      Sep 03, 2024 | ISBN 9780812978810

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $29.00

      Sep 13, 2022 | ISBN 9780679643562

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Sep 13, 2022 | ISBN 9780593241486

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Sep 13, 2022 | ISBN 9780593412008

      1359 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Betrothed

    Italy’s greatest novel and a masterpiece of world literature, The Betrothed chronicles the unforgettable romance of Renzo and Lucia, who endure tyranny, war, famine, and plague to be together.

    Published in 1827 but set two centuries earlier, against the tumultuous backdrop of seventeenth-century Lombardy during the Thirty Years’ War, The Betrothed is the story of two peasant lovers who want nothing more than to marry. Their region of northern Italy is under Spanish occupation, and when the vicious Spaniard Don Rodrigo blocks their union in an attempt to take Lucia for himself, the couple must struggle to persevere against his plots—which include false charges against Renzo and the kidnapping of Lucia by a robber baron called the Unnamed—while beset by the hazards of war, bread riots, and a terrifying outbreak of bubonic plague. First and foremost a love story, the novel also weaves issues of faith, justice, power, and truth into a sweeping epic in the tradition of Ivanhoe, Les Misérables, and War and Peace. Groundbreakingly populist in its day and hugely influential to succeeding generations, Alessandro Manzoni’s masterwork has long been considered one of Italy’s national treasures.

    Translated by Archibald Colquhoun

    About The Betrothed

    “The first English translation in more than fifty years of Alessandro Manzoni’s masterpiece, a work of foundational Italian literature on par with the Divine Comedy and the Decameron.”—The Wall Street Journal
     
    “An exemplary historical novel” (The New Yorker) from the father of modern Italian literature, The Betrothed receives its first new English-language translation in fifty years, hailed as “a landmark literary occasion” by Jhumpa Lahiri.

    ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker

    The Betrothed is a cornerstone of Italian culture, language, and literature. Published in its final form in 1842, The Betrothed has inspired generations of Italian readers and writers. Giuseppe Verdi composed his majestic Requiem Mass in honor of Manzoni. Italo Calvino called the novel “a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy” while Umberto Eco praised its author as a “most subtle critic and analyst of languages.” The Betrothed has been celebrated by Primo Levi and Natalia Ginzburg, and is one of Pope Francis’s favorite books. But, until now, it has remained relatively unknown to English readers.

    In the fall of 1628, two young lovers are forced to flee their village on the shores of Lake Como after a powerful lord prevents their marriage, plunging them into the maelstrom of history. Manzoni draws on actual people and events to create an unforgettable fresco of Italian life and society. In this greatest of historical novels, he takes the reader on a journey through the Spanish occupation of Milan, the ravages of war, class tensions, social injustice, religious faith, and a plague that devastates northern Italy. But within Manzoni’s epic tale, readers will also hear powerful echoes of our own day.

    Michael F. Moore’s dynamic new translation of The Betrothed brings to life Manzoni’s timeless literary masterpiece.

    About The Betrothed

    “The first English translation in more than fifty years of Alessandro Manzoni’s masterpiece, a work of foundational Italian literature on par with the Divine Comedy and the Decameron.”—The Wall Street Journal
     
    “An exemplary historical novel” (The New Yorker) from the father of modern Italian literature, The Betrothed receives its first new English-language translation in fifty years, hailed as “a landmark literary occasion” by Jhumpa Lahiri.

    ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker

    The Betrothed is a cornerstone of Italian culture, language, and literature. Published in its final form in 1842, The Betrothed has inspired generations of Italian readers and writers. Giuseppe Verdi composed his majestic Requiem Mass in honor of Manzoni. Italo Calvino called the novel “a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy” while Umberto Eco praised its author as a “most subtle critic and analyst of languages.” The Betrothed has been celebrated by Primo Levi and Natalia Ginzburg, and is one of Pope Francis’s favorite books. But, until now, it has remained relatively unknown to English readers.

    In the fall of 1628, two young lovers are forced to flee their village on the shores of Lake Como after a powerful lord prevents their marriage, plunging them into the maelstrom of history. Manzoni draws on actual people and events to create an unforgettable fresco of Italian life and society. In this greatest of historical novels, he takes the reader on a journey through the Spanish occupation of Milan, the ravages of war, class tensions, social injustice, religious faith, and a plague that devastates northern Italy. But within Manzoni’s epic tale, readers will also hear powerful echoes of our own day.

    Michael F. Moore’s dynamic new translation of The Betrothed brings to life Manzoni’s timeless literary masterpiece.

    About The Betrothed

    “The first English translation in more than fifty years of Alessandro Manzoni’s masterpiece, a work of foundational Italian literature on par with the Divine Comedy and the Decameron.”—The Wall Street Journal
     
    “An exemplary historical novel” (The New Yorker) from the father of modern Italian literature, The Betrothed receives its first new English-language translation in fifty years, hailed as “a landmark literary occasion” by Jhumpa Lahiri.

    ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker

    The Betrothed is a cornerstone of Italian culture, language, and literature. Published in its final form in 1842, The Betrothed has inspired generations of Italian readers and writers. Giuseppe Verdi composed his majestic Requiem Mass in honor of Manzoni. Italo Calvino called the novel “a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy” while Umberto Eco praised its author as a “most subtle critic and analyst of languages.” The Betrothed has been celebrated by Primo Levi and Natalia Ginzburg, and is one of Pope Francis’s favorite books. But, until now, it has remained relatively unknown to English readers.

    In the fall of 1628, two young lovers are forced to flee their village on the shores of Lake Como after a powerful lord prevents their marriage, plunging them into the maelstrom of history. Manzoni draws on actual people and events to create an unforgettable fresco of Italian life and society. In this greatest of historical novels, he takes the reader on a journey through the Spanish occupation of Milan, the ravages of war, class tensions, social injustice, religious faith, and a plague that devastates northern Italy. But within Manzoni’s epic tale, readers will also hear powerful echoes of our own day.

    Michael F. Moore’s dynamic new translation of The Betrothed brings to life Manzoni’s timeless literary masterpiece.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Listen to a sample from The Betrothed

    Also by Alessandro Manzoni

    The Betrothed
    The Betrothed
    See all books by Alessandro Manzoni

    Also by Alessandro Manzoni

    The Betrothed
    The Betrothed
    See all books by Alessandro Manzoni

    Also by Alessandro Manzoni

    The Betrothed
    The Betrothed
    See all books by Alessandro Manzoni

    Also by Alessandro Manzoni

    The Betrothed
    The Betrothed
    See all books by Alessandro Manzoni

    About Alessandro Manzoni

    Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) is best known for his novel The Betrothed, which ranks among the masterpieces of world literature. It was first published in 1827 and then in 1842 in a revised edition. Manzoni was also a poet, prolific essayist,… More about Alessandro Manzoni

    About Alessandro Manzoni

    Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) is best known for his novel The Betrothed, which ranks among the masterpieces of world literature. It was first published in 1827 and then in 1842 in a revised edition. Manzoni was also a poet, prolific essayist,… More about Alessandro Manzoni

    About Alessandro Manzoni

    Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) is best known for his novel The Betrothed, which ranks among the masterpieces of world literature. It was first published in 1827 and then in 1842 in a revised edition. Manzoni was also a poet, prolific essayist,… More about Alessandro Manzoni

    About Alessandro Manzoni

    Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873) is best known for his novel The Betrothed, which ranks among the masterpieces of world literature. It was first published in 1827 and then in 1842 in a revised edition. Manzoni was also a poet, prolific essayist,… More about Alessandro Manzoni

    Product Details

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

    Paperback | $19.00
    Published by Modern Library
    Sep 03, 2024 | 704 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780812978810

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

    Hardcover | $29.00
    Published by Modern Library
    Sep 13, 2022 | 704 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780679643562

    Category: Classic Fiction | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

    Ebook | $4.99
    Published by Modern Library
    Sep 13, 2022 | 704 Pages | ISBN 9780593241486

    Category: Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $27.50
    Published by Random House Audio
    Sep 13, 2022 | 1359 Minutes | ISBN 9780593412008

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

     “This is not just a book; it offers consolation to the whole of humanity.”
    —Giuseppe Verdi
     
    “[Manzoni is] the only Italian literary figure whom his countrymen consider worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Dante . . . It is almost impossible to accept this book as a first novel. Through the virtuosity with which its creator deploys and refines his raw materials, the story of Renzo and Lucia . . . consistently transcends its considerable potential for sentimentality . . . The mélange of tones, styles and methods within the book makes the experience of reading it one of the most rewarding—and simultaneously most challenging—in nineteenth-century fiction.”
    —from the Introduction by Jonathan Keates
     

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook