Sal, the protagonist of ‘Sun Alley’, is an exceptionally intelligent twelve-year-old boy, experiencing his first love. One summer afternoon, on his way to see his girlfriend Emi, he is caught in a rain shower and shelters in the hallway of a block of flats. Led by a strong odour, he goes down into the basement, where he comes upon the corpse of a young and very beautiful woman. Little by little, Sal will attempt to discover the mystery of this body and, at the same time, will pursue his amorous relationship with Emi; a strange liaison which unfolds in parallel with the adulterous affair of an adult couple whose path Sal repeatedly crosses.
As his love story with Emi evolves, Sal tries his best to hide it, not only from the cynical eyes of his friends in the neighbourhood, but also from his parents – whose intervention might well shatter his bliss – thereby developing a veritably adulterous mindset. The connections between adults and the two children, on the one hand, and the dead body discovered by Sal on the other, are far deeper and more complicated than they may at first seem. Sun Alley is a novel about the roots of adultery and the destiny of an exceptional young boy who, thanks to his gifts, has the power to see visions.
‘One of the most compelling aspects of Stefanescu’s novel is its systematic undermining of temporal linearity.’
”…an ambitious, at times remarkable book…’
Costica Bradatan, Times Literary Supplement
”Obsessive love and the desire for freedom….Sun Alley is a splendidly subtle piece of writing dissecting various forms of manipulations the characters resort to in order to preserve their relationships, whether as children or adults.”
A. M. Bakalar. B O D Y Literature, Friday Pick
“Above all this is a first-class story, as we get a portrait of a relationship in two stages, both under less than ideal conditions, i.e. essentially a forbidden relationship. This forbidden nature as well as the the key issues we only learn about later make both of these relationships ultimately destructive, even if both parties love each other very much, indeed passionately. Stefanescu gives us a wonderful psychological analysis of the two protagonists and their relationship, but also their interactions with other characters.”
