Text of review reads:

To think of Italy is to conjur up images of beautiful women, wonderful scenery and mouth watering food. The Italy portrayed in this book is very different. We follow the lives of a cast of characters in a small Italian village over a period of 6 days. They are a sorry bunch living desperate lives in an economically depressed area.

The introduction to 13 year old Cristiano and his alcoholic father, Rino, gives some measure of what is to come. The boy is woken from his sleep and ordered to shoot a dog to stop its incessant barking. Despite the boy living in terror of his father, he truly loves him.

Rino and his drinking buddies hatch a plan to rob an ATM believing it will lead to a better life. The story moves at a breathtaking pace leading up to the night of the robbery and the tragedy that unfolds. Violent, tragic, tender, melancholic, loving, brutal & humourous are all words that spring to mind as I try to sum up this stunning example of human emotions in raw form.

An absolute gem.

Rating 5 out of 5