Andrea Fazioli

Uno splendido inganno

«The refuse truck was passing by on the main street. It stopped at every gateway to pick up the grey plastic sacks. Under Vanessa’s window, a man with a dog stopped to watch the bin men. Men are always fascinated by work, she thought.»

Guido Moretti is a man of the highest integrity, who has worked all his life as an accountant, first in Italy, then in Switzerland. One day, someone robs the service station where he works. No one is hurt, but Guido alone notices something, a small detail he cannot get out of his mind. Shortly afterwards, he retires. So, is this to be the start of life of monotony? Of just going for walks and playing cards? Not a bit of it. Guido is a man of regular habits and an irreproachable way of life, but he becomes captivated by the beautiful and provocative Vanessa, a professional confidence trickster. Can she really be in love with him? Or is she after something? And if so, what? The backdrop to the story is Zürich, an excessively wealthy and clean city, whose vices are concealed beneath the manicured lawns of well-appointed villas, while the events set in Ascona and Milan highlight the nervous tension between North and South, a tension typical of Italian-speaking Switzerland. Fazioli tells a story of adventure and suspense – in which no one is what they seem. For all their confidence tricks, the fraudsters are perhaps more genuine than the austere citizens who make money, collect original paintings and live in sumptuous residences, in a round of crowded cocktail parties and hushed conversations beside the lake...

Recommended for translation by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia:
www.12swissbooks.ch

Translation of title: A Magnificent  Deception

Ugo Guanda Editore, Parma 2013

ISBN: 978-88-6088-446-6