From their homes, twenty-six of the most prominent writers in the Italian landscape have given a meaning to these days by choosing to tackle this emergency also with the weapons of literature.

R. Armeni, S. Auci, A. Basso, B. Bellomo, G. Biondillo, C. Bonvicini, F. Bosco, M. Buticchi, C. Caboni, D. Carrisi, A. Dalton, G. Festa, A. Frontani, E. Galiano, A. Gazzola, E. Gnone, M. Gramellini, J. Lahiri, F. Noiville, C. Sánchez, G. Sundas, S. Truzzi, I. Tuti, H. Tuzzi, M. Vichi, A. Vitali.

Nowadays, fear has a new name: Covid-19. The only way to defeat it is to stay at home.  Within the four walls that have always shielded us but which have now become impassable boundaries.

They have become almost an enemy.

And yet, day after day, those who always work with words have discovered that rooms, windows, and even the remotest corners of their homes are wings to carry them out into the world. Every one of them has therefore chosen a way to give life to this magic.

From their homes, twenty-six of the most prominent writers in the Italian landscape have given a meaning to these days by choosing to tackle this emergency also with the weapons of literature.

So as to take their daily lives to the readers who love them.

And they decided to do this together with the publishing house Garzanti by donating all the proceeds to the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo.

Some decided to write about their days, their established routines, about novelties that make you smile. About the tears they cannot stop but also about the force of nature that dissolves the lump in your throat. About forced cohabitation, as well the distancing from people who are dear to you, that feels unbearable. Others write about neighbours who were once strangers but are no longer so, and work that has changed its tools but not its substance. Some admit their error in thinking that it could not all be true or else lend a voice to animals who, on the contrary, are glad this is all true. Others entrust their thoughts about these strange days to beloved characters they have created. Everyone is certain that we will emerge from this more aware of what is truly important, and we will meet, hug, and soon take walks all together. They are certain that solidarity will be the currency we will carry with us and no longer be able to do without.

They are all convinced that words, books and stories bring us together. They create invisible links that break all barriers. When we read we are never alone. And we are strong. And everything appears as it will be. Because all shall be well.

Alice Allevi: funnier, clumsier, more intuitive and ironic than ever. A successful mix of crime story, romance and comedy.

A very successful TV series based on these novels has been produced by Endemol and broadcasted by RAI 1.

The comeback of the pathologist who has charmed thousands of readers, and become a literary phenomenon.

A particularly unusual crime weapon and a victim who is well known in academic circles are the ingredients of a new and impervious investigation by the aspiring pathologist Alice Allevi. Luckily for once her work difficulties will not affect her sentimental life because, yes, Alice has finally made a choice…But has she made the right one?

Alice Allevi: funnier, clumsier, more intuitive and ironic than ever. A successful mix of crime story, romance and comedy.

A very successful TV series based on these novels has been produced by Endemol and broadcasted by RAI 1.

The comeback of the pathologist who has charmed thousands of readers, and become a literary phenomenon.

Alice Allevi, is a young post-graduate student in forensic medicine who has learnt to resist everything. Or almost everything.
Because she is a good student, she resists the pressure from her superiors who have asked her to supervise a young post-graduate student…but what a pain to have to supervise her own self! Her tortuous sentimental life is proof of this. Alice is in fact still suffering from an “undecided heart” syndrome, which keeps her torn between two men that are charming as much as they are different from one another: Arthur, also known as “The Unnamed” after years of inflicting suffering upon her, and Claudio, the most successful medical examiner of the institute, good looking and an inveterate seducer who can tempt like the devil.
Alice also resists -or at least tries to resist – the urge to launch into fanciful investigative theories each time she collaborates secretly with superintendent Calligaris, who seems to have more faith in Alice than she does in herself.
But during what turns out to be the hottest summer Alice has ever experienced since she has lived in Rome, dealing with all these issues becomes quite a challenge when she is suddenly faced with a case that could involve her far too much.
The discovery of the mummified body of a young theatre actor, believed to have disappeared years earlier, but who seems to have been killed, is just the first act of an intricate and complex enquiry. From then on Alice will have to face a series of characters who initially come across as being transparent and sincere, but who are all hiding unmentionable secrets. However Alice knows: no secret is a secret forever. And those who can’t keep their secrets at bay end up being dominated by them…which leads to a tragic and cruel finale.

A weird burial ritual, a girl found dead and another one missing.

A mystery that even Alice Allevi, with her messy ways and brilliant mind, will struggle to solve.

When Ambra, Alice Allevi’s bitchy colleague, suddenly vanishes into thin air, the Institute of Forensic Medicine where Alice works is under a cloud of suspicion… The situation gets even worse when the corpse of another girl, who disappeared years before, is found: as it turns out, Viviana, the victim, and Ambra used to go to university together.

Whoever killed and buried her observed the traditional customs reserved for the burial of a princess that were practiced in ancient Jericho. When she disappeared, Viviana was actually on her way back to Palestine, where she was working on an important archaeological excavation.

Alice is quite upset by her colleague’s disappearance, and she even feels a little guilty for what happened: after all, Ambra is Claudio Conforti’s ex, her blessing and curse… There are too many bizarre coincidences connecting Ambra to the death of her friend to think this is just a crime of passion.

Why had Viviana called Ambra just before she died? And why was it Ambra who brought her friend’s diary to Israel? What is the mysterious connection between the two girls?

Alice Allevi is back: funnier, clumsier, more intuitive and ironic than ever. The comeback of the pathologist who has seduced thousands of readers, becoming a literary phenomenon.

Alice longs for a romantic week in Paris with her beloved Arthur Malcomess: journalist, globetrotter and son of His Highness, the director of the Institute of Legal Medicine where Alice is specialising. Alice also hopes to get the longed-for job at the Institute thanks to an entrance exam, but she is told the hated Ambra, engaged to Claudio Conforti, in charge of the interns, got the job instead. Alice has many distractions in life: her eccentric Japanese housemate, the long skype calls with Arthur, and most of all her job as a practicing pathologist. She is asked to work on a case of non compos mentis. An old writer, who wrote a bestseller and was then forgotten by both critics and readers, wants to leave all his possessions to a mysterious woman. He hid her name in an acrostic appearing in his will. The writer’s family wants to have him declared non compos mentis. Things get complicated when the old writer is found dead, seemingly a suicide, in his room… Alice’s curiosity has been triggered and she is not going to let go. Her mission is always the same: she has to find out the truth.

Going back to Alice Allevi’s origins.
If you don’t know her yet, here is the novel to discover her.
If you already know her, here is another reason to love her.

Devoted readers know full well Alice Allevi’s controversial relationship with legal medicine. What they don’t know is how this young and funny apprentice has embraced a career that gives her great satisfaction but does not spare her a great deal of bitterness.
In The Syndrome of the Suspended Heart, we find a twenty-three-year-old Alice stuck in the middle of a personal crisis: she doesn’t feel ready to finish her medical studies, and even less ready to start the bright career everybody seems to expect from her. She feels the need to talk about her doubts with her family, but doesn’t know where to start… Her life and plans are totally disrupted when a brutal murder is committed in Grandma Amalia’s house. Amalia’s young Russian carer is murdered and a young, attractive and unapproachable forensic expert arrives at the crime scene. His name is Claudio Conforti.
The encounter with Claudio will change Alice’s life forever, as the reader knows well!

She is young and smart. She doesn’t stand autopsies well. But she’s always facing death. CSI meets Sophie Kinsella!

Alice Allevi is a young apprentice in forensic medicine. Her life is spangled by daily disasters. She is not looked over favourably in the Institute where she works: it all started when she cut her finger accidentally while trying to dissect an eyeball….
Her woman director has been picking her on constantly. Alice must also try to understand if her colleague Claudio, a dandy and womanizer, is prepared to help her to overcome her little professional problems – leaving aside any sentimental questions in which she keeps getting entangled. And, to complete the picture, Alice has got a bizarre Japanese co-tenant who keeps her awake by reminding her that when you are young you must live by night.
In this routine a murder creeps in… a common event for a Forensic Institute, were it not that Alice met the victim the night before she died. This murder will become an obsession to Alice and, maybe, an opportunity to get a professional redemption.