Città irreale

Two symbolic cities, the identity clash of an entire generation, the grey area of those who no longer belong to a country but are still out of place in the new one, a highly topical issue, elegantly written: these are the ingredients for a promising debut novel.

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Alina is 27 years old and doesn’t like decisions. She moves to London, an immense city where she thinks possibilities are endless and doors always open. It’s 2007, the economic crisis has not yet begun, and she is offered an unstarry job which is nevertheless more promising than the one she left in Italy. Between boring dinners and chance encounters, she starts finding her way in a society in which she dreams she will one day become fully integrated. Identity for her is a liquid concept, one she can bend at her will. She finds out that this is not the case when she meets Iain, a young English doctor from a good family, and his circle of friends. His British reserve and her stubborn confidence in the future drive them apart, even if they are united by everything else. Like Alina, Iain previously lived somewhere else. In the late 1990s, he and young Vicky left their beautiful London houses to spend some time in Reggio Emilia, volunteering on a project that had nothing to do with the charity work they were used to do back home. The experience will change them forever and will also affect the unwitting Alina.

Set in London, a city that has become a magnet for all souls, young Europeans like Alina are ready to do anything to win freedom and autonomy.
Her tale is one of ambition, of discovery and of the danger of remaining stuck between two worlds.