Did you know that ‘nymph’ is a term for an adolescent grasshopper? From when they first hatch, crickets go through multiple moults till they reach adulthood, meaning they don’t get the dramatic transformation of a butterfly’s metamorphosis. But the incremental changes of nymph crickets are perhaps a better metaphor for the process of human growth and coming of age – something Sofia Montrone thoughtfully explores in this beautiful, immersive novel. And if you were drawn to a book called Nymph for the allusion to the nature deities of Greek mythology, then let me assure you that the Ancient Greeks feature just as heavily in Montrone’s story as the intriguing lifecycle of a cricket.

When we first meet Leo, she’s 10 – her best friend is her brother Max, she resents the girlish etiquette her mother tries to instil in her, and she idolises her father, though she is also starting to notice the inconstancy and heavy drinking concealed by his charisma. Over the course of a summer, spent working and playing at her grandmother’s hotel in the Italian countryside, Leo soaks up precious moments of her father’s attention, learning about the world from his stories, which always come back to the heroics of Odysseus and his patient family in Ithaca. Montrone depicts everything with incredible attention to detail, which makes every scene feel real and tangible – from the hair Leo pulls from shower drains to the fruit she eats straight from the tree.

Then, we move forward through time – Leo is now on the verge of adulthood, about to start university. She, Max and their mother are back at the hotel for the summer, working while their grandmother spends more and more time in bed. Leo is full of the responsible concerns of adulthood, and the inescapable anxieties of adolescence. But through this stressful miasma, there is a vein of happiness – Dolores, a young woman in town for the summer, who gets a job at the hotel and joins Leo for mornings of scrubbing floors and making beds. Dolores is bold and self-assured, but also just as thoughtful as Leo – they’re kindred spirits, and over the course of the summer their friendship blossoms into love.

This novel is a sweet, slow-burn story of self-discovery and community that reminded me why coming-of-age stories are so compelling. While Leo has had to grow up prematurely in some ways, Montrone also makes space for all the ways she’s still changing and learning.