The Boy with Two Mothers

The Boy with Two Mothers
AuthorMassimo Bontempelli
Original titleIl figlio di due madri
TranslatorEstelle Gilson
LanguageItalian
Publisher"900"
Publication date
1929
Publication placeItaly
Published in English
2000
Pages264

The Boy with Two Mothers (Italian: Il figlio di due madri) is a 1929 novel by the Italian writer Massimo Bontempelli. It is about a seven-year-old boy in Rome who suddenly stops recognising his mother, claims his name is Ramiro and not Mario, and demands to be taken to a woman he says is his real mother, whose son Ramiro had died seven years earlier.[1]

The novel is associated with magical realism. It was published in Estelle Gilson's English translation in the 2000 volume Separations: Two Novels of Mothers and Children, which also contains Bontempelli's novel The Life and Death of Adria and Her Children.[1]

It was the basis for the 2000 French film Comedy of Innocence, directed by Raúl Ruiz.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Separations: Two Novels of Mothers and Children". Publishers Weekly. 1 May 2000. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  2. ^ Young, Deborah (13 September 2000). "Son of Two Mothers or the Comedy of Innocence". Variety. Retrieved 29 January 2026.