Dear Teacher

A Novel

Maddalena Vaglio Tanet

• Publisher: HarperVia
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9780063339194
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

“Maddalena Vaglio Tanet captivates us from the very first sentence, telling through her stirring style the depths of fear and breadth of the human heart. As if Elena Ferrante's heroines had come to northern Italy to find themselves caught between tender longings and bitter disappointments.”—Floran Illies, bestselling author of 1913

With the depth and emotional power of Go as a River and Dear Edward, a poignant and evocative debut novel from an exhilarating new international talent, based on a true story, about the heartwarming bond that develops between a grieving teacher and a student.

One morning, a teacher disappears into the woods. As whispers fill her classroom and relatives scour the streets, she melts into a wild landscape, a darkly entrancing place where boars roam free, silver birches tower overhead, and the air is filled with the songs of ancient birds. Sinking deeper into a bed of moss and her own memories, the teacher seeks refuge from the shocking news of a favorite student’s death—a death in which she may have played an unwitting part.

Back in town, behind shuttered windows and on factory floors, the mystery of the woman’s disappearance takes hold. Who is Silvia really? A teacher of rare kindness, living outside of expectations, or a solitary misfit without a family of her own?

When another student stumbles upon her hiding place, a solitary boy with his own troubles, it seems like the search might be over. But what do you do with a missing woman who doesn’t want to be found?

Lushly written and told with mesmerizing intensity, compassion, and warmth, The Teacher is an atmospheric debut that explores human vulnerability and connection, isolation and community, hope and healing, and what it means to return to ourselves. 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 27
• Chapter 28
• Chapter 29
• Chapter 30
• Chapter 31
• Chapter 32
• Chapter 33
• Chapter 34
• Chapter 35
• Chapter 36
• Chapter 37
• Chapter 38
• Chapter 39
• Chapter 40
• Chapter 41
• Chapter 42
• Chapter 43
• Chapter 44
• Chapter 45
• Chapter 46
• Chapter 47
• Chapter 48
• Chapter 49
• Chapter 50
• Chapter 51
• Chapter 52
• Chapter 53
• Chapter 54
• Chapter 55
• Chapter 56
• Chapter 57
• Chapter 58
• Chapter 59
• Chapter 60
• Chapter 61
• Chapter 62
• Chapter 63
• Chapter 64
• Chapter 65
• Author’s Note
• Acknowledgments
• A Note from the Translator
• About the Author
• Copyright
• About the Publisher