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Considered by many to be the masterpiece of Dante’s youth, New Life is one of the finest poetical works and the first example of the modern novel in Italian. Foreword by Louis de Bernières.

At the age of nine, Dante met and fell in love with Beatrice. Although she died very young, she remained his lifelong muse. New Life is Dante’s profound attempt to reconcile the deep anguish he suffered after her loss and to capture something of her eternal beauty, seeing her as the universal figure of woman. Incorporating poems and prose, and distinguished by Dante’s remarkable linguistic style, New Life remains one of the greatest works in the literature of love. Author of the masterpiece The Divine Comedy, Florentine Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) is one of the greatest writers of all time.