Letters to Lorenzo — Amanda Prantera

Juliet, the English wife of a Roman industrialist, Lorenzo Gherardi, is woken in the middle of the night by a telephone call to learn that her husband has just died in a bomb explosion to the north of the city while at the wheel of his car. Due to his left-wing views, the public, friends, even Lorenzo's mother have suspicions that he has been transporting explosives for terrorists. This is the era of the Red Brigades and any involvement in terrorism carries severe punishment. Juliet is grilled by a magistrate called Carosi - a sinister character, to her, with a sulphurous whiff of Pluto about him. How can she prove that her husband is innocent, and that she is innocent - that it was almost certainly the Neofascists who planted the bomb to discredit the Left? Can she cushion her son from pain and block family interference as she frantically digs for the truth? But the car bomb isn't the only big bang to rip through Juliet's life. This is a tale of attraction and betrayal. Prantera also takes a steady look at political posturing - the fudging of language and the drossy morality that can lure people into dangerous action