Juliano Zaffino’s debut novel, The Steps, is published by Tramp Press in the UK and Ireland on 30 April 2026. Scroll down to read more about the book, advanced praise for it, links to purchase, and information for events.

About The Steps

Sophie and her five children, still reeling from tragedy, relocate from Canada to her partner Derek's childhood home in England. There they attempt to forge a new life together – but their new family is shadowed by grief, myth, and a lingering sense of the uncanny.

Through shifting perspectives, from Jules, the delicate middle child, to fierce Ema, to volatile Angelo, debut author Juliano Zaffino paints an unforgettable portrait of love, loyalty, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

Blending psychological suspense with intimate family drama, and with echoes of Virginia Woolf and Shirley Jackson, The Steps is both deeply moving and eerily unsettling, a meditation on trauma, family bonds, and the thin line between tenderness and violence.

Praise for The Steps

‘In his debut, Juliano Zaffino shows himself to be a writer of tremendous authority and delicate touch’ – Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies, Matrix, Brawler and more

*

‘Brutal but tender, suffocating yet expansive, The Steps is an unflinching portrait of a family’s parts and its complex whole’ – Rebecca Perry, author of May We Feed The King

*

‘A tantalising study of sibling dynamics, the complicated repercussions of childhood, and the salvation of art’ – Sara Baume, author of handiwork, Opening Night and more

*

‘Vivid and unsettling; very much alive and very often gorgeous. It thrums with its own dark pulse’ – Sue Rainsford, author of Follow Me To Ground, Redder Days, and From Out My Heart

*

‘Quick and vivid and clever’ – Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost In The Throat and Said The Dead

The Steps is available for preorder from most UK and Ireland bookshops.

Pre-order now in the UK and Ireland:

UK: Waterstones / Foyles / Hatchards

Ireland: Tramp Press / Kennys

If you must: Amazon

Or order from your local indie bookshop!
ISBN: 9781915290205