The Caravaggio Syndrome
A Novel
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- 24,99 €
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- 24,99 €
Publisher Description
Leyla is a headstrong Brooklyn-born art historian at a prestigious upstate New York college. When she meets feckless young computer technician Pablo at a party, she quickly becomes pregnant with his child. There’s only one problem: she can’t stand him. And one more problem: her student Michael wants Pablo for himself.
Amid this love triangle, the objects of Leyla and Michael’s study take on a life of their own. Trying to learn more about Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Seven Works of Mercy, they pore over the journal and prison writings of maverick 17th-century utopian philosopher Tommaso Campanella, which, as if by enchantment, transport them back four centuries to Naples. And while the past and present miraculously converge, Leyla, Michael, and Tommaso embark on a voyage of self-discovery in search of a new life.
In this fusion of historical, queer, and speculative fiction, Alessandro Giardino combines the intellectual playfulness of Umberto Eco with the psychological finesse of Michael Cunningham.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this dreamy meditation, Giardino explores artistic dissatisfaction, personal resilience, and the intricacies of intimate relationships, all connected by the enigmatic allure of Caravaggio's art. In 2007, Leyla D'Andria, an art historian at New York State's Saint Luke University, sleeps with and becomes pregnant by composer Pablo, a man she quickly comes to find irritating. Meanwhile, Pablo engages the attention of Michael, a student at the university with whom he begins an affair. For his part, Michael grapples with his relationship with his previously unknown father, who looks eerily like Pablo, and undertakes an unexpected soul-searching journey to Naples. This contemporary love triangle intertwines with the historical reflections of Tommaso Campanella, a 16th-century philosopher facing imprisonment for his revolutionary ideas. As the modern characters navigate their complex lives, Campanella's prophetic dreams begin to reference Leyla, Pablo, and Michael, adding a mysterious and possibly supernatural layer to the narrative. The characters' trajectories, influenced by the echoes of the past, converge in unexpected ways that will have readers captivated. Giardino's narrative prowess, coupled with Myerson's fluid translation, makes for a subtle speculative work that lingers in the mind.
