Era un bravo ragazzo

A novel about a mafia that doesn't shoot but governs the economy of the island, a story about the fierce power of family and the yearning desire to return to the land in which identity and hope are rooted. The book tells the story of two friends, two mothers, two wives. We are between Sciacca and Pertuso Piccione, in western Sicily. Giovanni and Santino both dream of a sweet redemption, among Gagarin's flight, American cinema, and the beauty of the country they live in. Giovanni has to fulfill his mother Cettina's social ambitions, while Santino wants to save his mother Assunta from the misleading fate to which she has exposed herself to support her family. What will become of us when we grow up? And what does it mean to grow up? What kind of men will we become? They don't have time to provide answers: they are progressively absorbed by agreements made over their heads. Santino becomes a prince of concrete, accepting increasingly wealthy and manipulated commissions. Giovanni, a lawyer, recommended by ambiguous and powerful figures, puts his legal skills at the service of those who use the law to hide the advantage of a few against the need of many. They both make excellent marriages and triumph in the dark eighties, the terrible years of the mafia wars. Anna, a committed lawyer, specializing in water rights, would like to "save" Giovanni, married to the wealthy Veronica. Margherita, a devoted wife, ensures a family life for Santino that seems protected from blood and violence. But the construction industry, both public and private, allows neither transparency nor justice, and the two friends fall into a hopeless spiral. Only the glimpses of adolescence and the dazzling beauty of Assunta, embodiments of a dreamed Sicily, that never stop dreaming its own good, remain.