Vincenzo, the protagonist of Giancarlo Piacci’s noires, is back bookseller from Naples with a passion for crime, already the author of “The Silver Saints” and now working again with “Our Lady of Lightning” published by Salani and once again with cover by Zerocalcare. Vincenzo returns and drags us back into the alleys and mysteries of Naples, inevitably taking us to the side of the least, ready to glare at those who live by abuse and evil. This time too you are accompanied with precision through squares, alleys and glimpses of buildings with an ancient flavour, scents and traditions, captured by the weaknesses and secrets of the protagonist and those around him.
“Our Lady of Lightning – Giancarlo Piacci tells AGI – is a story that once again sees the group of the Silver Saints as protagonists, with some new features. These novels are full of humanity, a humanity in which I find myself perfectly at home I feel comfortable thinking about them in other experiences while values change around them. Once again we find Vincenzo, Bacoli, Giovanni. Once again Vincenzo is in Bacoli, in the marina, and finally leads a peaceful life with a partner, Irene, and a close community around him. to the fishermen’s cooperative. But this peace is shaken by his gloomy side which pushes him towards a gloomy life and by the realization of the bluff of the multinational that wants to open a large fish farm in Bacoli, the largest fish market in the Mediterranean is willing to hire staff from the cooperative. The community is divided between those who dream of the thirteenth salary and paid holidays, and those who want to maintain autonomy. It turns out that the multinational does not hire everyone. Only less than half of the fishermen. And then the fracture becomes deep, the community is divided, Vincenzo loses his stability, one of the fishermen will be found dead in one of the breeding tanks, the investigations will involve the population and old stories, old protagonists come to light”.
Old nightmares therefore “Well – continues Piacci – Giovanni reappears, asking for help in the search for criminals believed to be responsible for his son’s death” Let’s stop here, let’s not go any further. It’s a noir. Will there be a sequel? “In the story there will be things that Vincenzo does not yet know, which have yet to be revealed. There is the possibility that Vincenzo still finds himself experiencing a conflict. But I want to clarify that this is not a serial in classic terms. Let’s now see how much this story it will torment me and if it does so to the point of making Vincenzo go through yet another story. When I feel pulled by the jacket, then I will start writing again, to write about Vincenzo and his marginality which in reality, as I am. , it costs me.”
Among the characters there is one, in particular, who is deeply felt by the author: “We are talking about Canè. He is a guy who I feel is very mine – he explains – mine in his marginality, victim of the stigma that is sometimes given to us by children. they are kids who, simply because they arrive later to do some things, are labeled as not what the family would like, or how they should be according to the rules of society and for this reason, they end up on the margins no one except with dogs and in reality, Canè has nothing, it’s just that it shows how sometimes it’s easier for children to accept diversity than to attribute a stigma. stigmatize him.” The most difficult character?
“Definitely Irene, Vincenzo’s partner – underlines Piacci – As a heterosexual man, I looked at her with eyes filtered through Vincenzo. When I stopped doing it, Irene took over the whole story”.
“Our Lady of Lightning” also has a beautiful cover by Zerocalcare, as already happened for the “Silver Saints”: “Michele gave me this gift – explains Piacci – he is a splendid person. We come from similar worlds, we met in social spaces where artistic dynamics develop. Our gaze on reality was formed together. Michele is a generous, big-hearted person. Massimo Troisi said that success doesn’t change you but is a sounding board for who you are: if you are a beautiful person becomes beautiful, if you are ugly you become very ugly. I hope to have many more collaborations with him. His cover is a gift, it is even more beautiful than that of the Silver Saints. And then, with Zerocalcare we share the desire of believe that this world is not the only one possible.”
How is Naples compared to the Silver Saints? “For me it’s worse than two years ago. And I say this because the whole world is worse. The drama is there for all to see. Naples and all the other big cities – he concludes – are a reflection of the situation the world finds itself in. Who is on his knees.”