Novel
Elvira jew Imħabba ta' Tirann
Not translated into English
Giuseppe Folliero de Luna · 1863
Synopsis
A novel in Maltese, whose title announces the story of Elvira and the love of a tyrant. Neither its plot nor its characters are known.
Context
The Akkademja tal-Malti dates the book to 1863, specifying that this date remains provisional, and holds it to be the oldest known novel in Maltese. Other sources give it the same rank, reserving for Anton Manwel Caruana's Ineż Farruġ, in 1889, the title of first Maltese novel written by a Maltese. Its title is rendered in English as Elvira, or the Love of a Tyrant.
Who it is for
For knowing the starting point, still obscure and poorly dated, of the novel written in the Maltese language.
Prizes and reception
Francesca Xuereb, in 2022, places it at the head of the Maltese books that made their mark, as the very first novel in Maltese.