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Bérénice Capatti
L’anno senza estate (The year without a summer)
Novel
ISBN 978-88-31285-10-0
256 pages, Euro 19,00

THE PLOT. It is pouring down on the path leading to the foot of Mount Adula, the highest peak in Canton Ticino. Francesco Salemi, 68 years, tumbles into a ravine: the only witness of his death is the twenty-year-old Sara Gandolfi.
A successful businessman, Francesco was the owner of a cutlery company in Brianza (Lombardy), but also a passionate mountaineer. He had met Sara one year before the accident, in Milan, in the café where she worked as a waitress. The man was then experiencing a depressing time: disappointed by his sons, who worked alongside him in the company, he was looking for new, enthusiastic hires to overcome the crisis. On a whim, he decided to invest in that girl, lacking any qualification or experience.
Sara, always struggling to make ends meet, can’t believe her luck. As soon as she becomes Francesco’s assistant, however, chaos breaks out amidst the Salemi heirs, awakening their sleeping hatred towards their father, a brilliant but oppressive man. Things get even worse when Francesco decides to move to Lugano in order to distance himself from his family – both physically and mentally. Desperately clinging to her only hope, Sara follows Francesco: however, will staying by his side be the safest choice?

About the author

Bérénice Capatti is an author of children’s and teenagers’ literature: Vi presento Klimt and Gauguin e il colore dei tropici, Edizioni Arka (“Meet Mr Klimt, “Gauguin and the Colours of the Tropics”); Noi nella corrente, Rizzoli (“We are in the Flow”); L’incredibile tesoro di Gian del Mare, ESG (“The Amazing Treasure of Gian del Mare”). The year without a summer is her first novel for adults, supported by the Pro Helvetia Foundation. Capatti, who lives in Lugano, is also an editor and a translator.

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