Those life lasting encounters, those moments one can never forget. Written by the master of contemporary narrative.

There are many encounters here that give shape to this story, and each one has a light, an atmosphere and unforgettable characters. Some have marked the childhood and adolescence of Camilleri, and others that occurred later on during his career as a theatre and television director. Some are unknown, and take us back to the years of Fascism and the War, moments marked by stories that because of their humanity and sincerity, acquire an epic dimension, and the magic of a fundamental memory as they are a unique stepping stone, a turning point in the journey of the writer.
The anarchic, invincible indifference of Antonio, insensitive to the military callings and the horrors of the war: the surprising beauty of an encounter with a free thinking and loving bishop; the unforgettable memory of that stormy night when Camilleri’s father saved a heroic commanding officer who had gone missing; the last goodbye to “Foffa”, prostitute by necessity, alone in life and in love.
And woven into the stories, the sudden encounter with Primo Levi and his silences, the extravagance of Gadda, the frank confrontation with Pasolini about the direction of one of his theatre productions just before his death, and also Elio Vittorini, Benedetto Croce, Antonio Tabucchi…
Among the many characters a book stands out, The Human Condition by Andre’ Malraux, the reading of which was fundamental in shattering Camilleri’s fascist beliefs.

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Maestro Andrea Camilleri’s limitless imagination and typical Sicilian setting come back to life in the words of Maurizio De Giovanni, the author of the internationally bestselling Commissario Ricciardi series.

A new interpretation of the siren myth set in Vigàta, the imaginary Sicilian town inspired by Camilleri’s birthplace and centre of the events surrounding Inspector Montalbano: an imaginary, Homeric island inhabited by fishermen and sea creatures, where myth and history, but also art, architecture and astrology are intertwined.

Vigàta, January 1890. Gnazio returns from America after an absence of twenty-five years. The elderly Pina, an expert in herbs and healing, finds him a wife, Maruzza Musumeci, who is very beautiful. Strange that this young woman hadn’t yet found a husband. Could it be because of her quirks?

Maruzza is a siren and sirens are not fish with lipstick. They are alluring women who live among men. They inhabit the same locations, but not the same time. They come from millennial depths: they are either too old or too young, beyond life and death. They have a long view of the past and cultivate memories.

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