The Swan: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Interesting view of Mafia from an Italian perspective
Review: This novel takes place at the turn of the century, involving the trial of a Sicilian politician who is accused of ordering a murder, as a mafioso. The book works on several levels, not least of which, for the American reader, is its portrayal of the Sicilian Mafia from the point of view of an Italian writer. It is a more complex phenomenon than presented by the Hollywood prototype most familiar to American audiences. The story itself also shows the differences between how the Mafia is seen by both the Northern Italian and the Sicilian, a factor which appears to have made the book somewhat controversial in Italy. A different kind of crime novel with an Italian atmosphere.