Some of these stories I have loved and have found deeply moving, especially 'La Scalinata' (The Monumental Staircase), 'Le feste di P.' (P.'s Partire), and 'La processione' (The Procession).

I've always found Lahiri's storytelling mesmerising, and it was both flattering and humbling to read her Italian production, to listen to her savour the words and the sounds, to see her flirt with that ultimate line of separation, and, even, to catch her trying too hard sometimes.

I also understand the frustration of feeling, at times, rejected by that language, of realising that there will always and inevitably be an ultimate line of separation (however thin) between the language and myself, that it may never feel fully natural to me.

As someone who has studied English as a second language all my life, I understand what it means to fall in love with a language, to burn with the desire to make it your own, to embrace it and be embraced by it, and to mould yourself to it.

...As someone who has studied English as a second language all my life, I understand what it means to fall in love with a language, to burn with the desire to make it your own, to be one with it, to embrace it and be embraced by it, to mould yourself to it...