At my local book shop, Todo Modo, co-owner Pietro Torrigiani is stockpiling copies of Elena Ferrante’s new novel, “La vita bugiarda degli adulti.” The book, which will arrive in the United States as “The Lying Life of Adults” in June, is flying off the shelves - not just at eclectic indie shops like Todo Modo, but also at supermarkets and highway rest stops.

Here in Italy, Ferrante’s writing has broad, quietly unifying appeal in a politically fractured country. (Her new novel’s release coincided with the birth of the Sardines, a grass-roots movement packing Italy’s squares in protest of the far-right League party and its leader, former interior minister Matteo Salvini.)