Sara De Martino - Lilli (12+)

Sara De Martino was born in Genoa in 1989. She graduated in Modern Literature. Fuga dal Paradiso (Paradise is a trap) is her prize winning debut novel. The Dutch edition will be published in July 2026 under the title Lilli. 

At Crossing Border she will present the book Lilli,  followed by an interactive workshop. 

“Paradise is a trap” (Fuga dal paradiso), situated in 1950’s Genoa, tells the story of Lilli, a girl who is different from all her sisters: she’s a tomboy and doesn’t like obeying the rules. She feels suffocated within the walls of her home. Everything changes the day Lilli meets Ida, a petty criminal in the service of a mysterious woman named Salomè, and her gang of Strays. For the first time in her life, Lilli feels truly accepted by this exciting and adventurous new world, while little by little her friendship with Ida transforms into something stronger and more complex. But soon Lilli and Ida will realise that they haven’t found freedom at all, rather, they’ve ended up in a trap. They will have to come up with an infallible plan to escape.