The Lover of No Fixed Abode

The Lover of No Fixed Abode

By Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini

Translated by Gregory Dowling

Genre:-Crime Fiction/Translated Fiction

Pages:-304

Publisher:-Bitter Lemon Press

Blurb:-The month, November. Glittering worldliness and dubious shabbiness overlap, passion and suspicion intertwine in a three-day Venetian adventure, bookended by the arrival of a plane and the departure of a ship.

 It begins with a troubling encounter on a flight to Venice. She is an elegant Roman signora on the search for undervalued paintings and he a mysterious tour guide. She is invited to cosmopolitan parties by Venetian social and art glitterati. Mr. Silvera, a guide whose erudition and distinction are in sharp contrast with his beat-up suitcase and stain-spotted raincoat, drags his shabby tourists from monument to monument.

 Their passion will last three days, long enough to be exposed to unscrupulous art dealers and other scammers, passing off worthless paintings as part of a famous collection. Silvera seems to know every language and all secrets. But who is he really? Around them, the canals and lagoons of Venice, a city which becomes a character in the novel in its own right.

 "Doyens of the Italian detective story, Fruttero and Lucentini, offer a perfect blend of the comedy of manners and the macabre..."Tim Parks, author of Hotel Milano.

 "A ladyrinth full of shapeshifting and ambiguity, sometimes sinister, often hilarious, for which Venice offers the perfect setting." Jonathan Keates, author of La Serenissima: The Story of Venice

 "An undiscovered gem, finally available in English...witty, moving and enthrallingly atmospheric." Philip Gwynne Jones, author of The Venetian Legacy

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My Review:-The Lover of No Fixed Abode has been translated from the original Italian into English Mr Silvera is a tour guide, along with tourists heading to Venice by plane, then to Greece on a cruise ship. He notices a young lady, she is an art appraiser from Rome. She works for an English auction house. After abandoning his tourists at the cruise shop, Silvera takes his company's money and spends a couple of days in Venice. Silvera and the young lady meet again in a cafe. 

 Silvera seems to speak every language as well as knowing almost everything about history. Is he just a tour guide or is there something about Silvera we don't know about him?

We have two main characters, Silvera and an unnamed young lady, as well as a few other characters.  It's a quick read with humour throughout the book.