TORINO – It’s always a pleasure to celebrate the literary debut of a new character, and this time it’s Giulia Rispoli’s turn, a bank employee from Turin with a passion for mysteries created by Micaela Strippoli. In her first adventure, “Dangerous Coincidences” published by Neos Edizioni, Giulia finds herself dealing with the murder of a bank customer. Her passion for mysteries leads her to investigate, uncovering crucial details that will help her police friend Leonardo solve the mystery.
Giulia is a well-defined character. She loves to think, reflect, analyze clues, and draw conclusions. This passion puts her in serious danger. However, Giulia also has a husband, children, and a job, facing the everyday difficulties of many women. She loves cooking, an activity that helps her concentrate and reflect. Like great detectives, she doesn’t like to share her thoughts and discoveries until she is reasonably certain she is on the right track.
Side note: Enjoy the cover and the many literary quotes in the novel.
Interview with Micaela Strippoli
We are introduced to a new character. Who is Giulia Rispoli?
Giulia Rispoli is a thirty-nine-year-old woman who, like many working women with families, leads a hectic life. She suffers from insomnia, which leads her to think a lot, perhaps too much, during the long sleepless nights. She loves reading; books are her refuge. She has a husband, two young children, and a job she no longer enjoys since the bank she worked for was absorbed by another institution, diminishing her professionalism. So, we can say she’s a banker who hates her job and has a passion for crime, mostly the ones told in mystery books, which she avidly reads. For now, she has to settle for those. In reality, reading this book, we will discover that she has a law degree and, reading the next one, we will discover that she wanted to become a judge; therefore, her passion for crime has deep and distant roots. One morning she arrives at the office and reads in the newspaper that one of her clients has been murdered. This is how she starts investigating, partly for fun, partly to break free from the usual boring routine, and partly because she feels guilty towards the client. However, the investigation will soon take a dangerous turn.
How did this story come about?
This story has been in the works for a long time. I started writing it twenty years ago, as an escape, a way out of the discomfort of doing a job that doesn’t satisfy you. I worked in a bank for many years, and I can’t say I was enthusiastic about it, quite the opposite. However, this job provided me with many ideas; in fact, most of the characters in the novel are inspired by real people: the mobster, the stripper, the murdered furniture merchant, all based on customers I had in the bank where I worked twenty years ago. At that time, I worked full time, I had two young children, and I didn’t have much time for writing. So, I didn’t write much, maybe not at all for years, but I thought a lot. Like the protagonist of the novel, I have always suffered from insomnia and, therefore, at night, while I couldn’t sleep, maybe an idea for a plot twist, a dialogue, a way to continue the story would come to mind. I tried to remember them, not to lose them, and then in the morning, I would take a piece of paper and write down a few words to remind me of the idea. Then, when I had time, maybe because I was home sick with the flu for three days, I would gather the notes and try to give them a shape.
Giulia is accompanied by various characters. Two of them are important men in her life. Her husband Enrico and the police officer Leonardo. Can you tell us about them?
Her husband is an engineer and is quite a particular character. He spends his free time playing on the computer and answers with monosyllables without looking up from the screen. He lives with his head in the clouds, is ambiguous and elusive, and this way of being will generate doubts in the protagonist, troubling her and creating discomfort. One almost wonders why Giulia is with him; in reality, he is better than he seems and will prove it. He will have his redemption. Her friend, police officer Leonardo Sacchi, is a former high school and university classmate of Giulia’s and has become a deputy police commissioner. They both studied law and used to go running together in Valentino Park before exams to relax, he always calm and quiet, she tense and nervous. They haven’t seen each other since university. Giulia will look for him when she starts investigating; they will meet, and she will discover that he hasn’t changed at all. He maintains his charm with his penetrating gaze and his athletic physique. He smells of sun and sea and has a slight Neapolitan accent due to his Campanian origins. During the course of the investigation, his feeling of friendship towards Giulia will undergo an unexpected evolution.
Giulia loves reading, and your novel is punctuated with “reading recommendations.” What do you like to read?
I read novels of all genres; some of my favorite authors are mentioned in the book. I go through phases; I have the period of South American authors, and then I read Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, Jorge Amado, Marcela Serrano, and Gioconda Belli. Then I have the period of “my hills,” and then I read Fenoglio, Pavese, and also Calvino. I love classics, Jane Austen foremost. The book I loved most last year was “Ferrovie del Messico” by Gian Marco Griffi; I found it brilliant. And for me, Fruttero and Lucentini are also brilliant. Obviously, a separate place is reserved for mysteries, from Simenon to Agatha Christie, but also Vazquez Montalban and Camilleri (just to name a few).
How long have you had Giulia in your drawer?
Since the story was born, twenty years ago.
Is Giulia ready for a new adventure?
Yes, Giulia’s adventures continue; the second novel is already written, the provisional title is “The Vice of Working in a Bank.”
