Title: Ernesto
First published: 1975
Description: Ernesto, a 16-year-old boy living in Trieste in 1898, has an affair with a 28-year-old worker simply called "the man". Ernesto subsequently has sex with the man frequently, but after an enjoyable experience with a female prostitute, he stops seeing him. He concentrates on studying the violin, and during a concert, Ernesto (now seventeen) meets a beautiful 15-year-old boy, also a violin player. He is called Emilio, nicknamed "Ilio"

*Ernesto* is an unfinished novel by Umberto Saba (1883–1957), written in 1953 and published posthumously in 1975. It was largely autobiographical, including details about the title character's friendship and love for a violinist, and his attachment to his native Trieste.
Subjects: Fiction, New York Times reviewed, Fiction, general, Violinists, Gay men, Fiction, coming of age, Gay men, fiction, Gay teenagers, LGBTQ fiction before Stonewall
Places: Trieste (Italy)