The collapse of the road is not just a minor sinkhole but a major collapse. As with many of the characters we meet, Annunziata Osvaldo, the operator, has a life and character and we very briefly follow her and learn about her, and then never see her again. However, by the next day, we see the police emergency telephone operator receiving a call about a road collapsing because of the rain. The rain starts on the 22 October and we first see it through the eyes of Carlo Andreoli.

The storm appears to be apocalyptic, not in the science fiction sense but more in the religious sense, even though several characters comment that they have seen worse in Naples. Most of them are naturally anxious about the storm, whether as victims or as officials having to deal with its effects. While we follow, to a certain extent, the journalist, Carlo Andreoli (based on Pugliese himself?), we also follow the fates of many Neapolitans as they struggle with the rain – police, local government officials and ordinary people caught up in the storm. It is raining heavily and continuously in Naples over four days. It has now finally been published in English forty years after first publication in Italian. It was republished only after he died and then had considerable success in Italy. It had a certain amount of success but, when it went out of print, he refused to let it be republished. Nicola Pugliese was a journalist by profession and this was his only novel. Home » Italy » Nicola Pugliese » Malacqua (Malacqua) Nicola Pugliese: Malacqua (Malacqua)

Malacqua by Nicola Pugliese