LA REPUTAZIONE

This sparklingly witty novel is the perfect balance between sophisticated comedy and genuine emotional depth in front of a rumour spreading.

"La rumeur" whispers, creeps, spreads: it is the voice that circulates, fragile, labile and tenacious. It changes its name and becomes noise, whisper, hearsay... and can change a destiny or die just as a parenthesis closes. The Reputation tells of a fibrillating and luminous place: the Joséphine fashion boutique, an unmissable fashion landmark in the Roman borough of Parioli in the 1980s. A fascinating place, yet tainted by shadows, ghosts and the certainty from which slander springs: if everyone believes something, then that something must have a kernel of truth. Marie-France, the shop owner, is the disenchanted diva of this small world around which shop assistants, friends, customers, their daughters, lovers revolve. She seduces and flogs everyone with her sharp tongue and irony. But despite appearances, success and beauty, everything is about to come crashing down. Ilaria Gaspari captures the reader from the very first page in a deeply human story: she moves with skill and naturalness between irony and dramatic tension in a 'comédie de caractères' that investigates our dreams and weaknesses. Ilaria Gaspari studied philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and did her doctorate at the University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. In 2015 her first novel, Etica dell'acquario, was published by Voland, followed by Ragioni e sentimenti, un conte philosophique sull'amore, for Sonzogno in 2018. For Einaudi she has published Lezioni di felicità. Esercizi filosofici per il buon uso della vita (2019) and Vita Segreta delle Emozioni (2021). She collaborates with various newspapers and holds writing courses at the Holden School. She lives in Rome.