Can one man's blood ruin the lives of the rest of his family? And by 'blood', Francesco Aloia, in his striking debut novel, means character. The character in question is Aloia's grandfather, Carlo Gaetano Orlando, a man of ambition, firm convictions and a dangerously volatile sense of personal honour. Two killings, and long spells in prison, overshadow his career, and his notoriety overshadows the prospects of his seven children, one of whom is Aloia's mother. In this intricate, kaleidoscopic novel, Aloia vividly recreates the life of a grandfather he never met and the febrile atmosphere of a postwar Naples where power is exercised as much by strong men with guns as by civic representatives of the state. Bloodlines (Questo sangue masticato) reflects on the devastating consequences of one man's overwhelming personality. It is also a book for our times, and introduces us, in Francesco Aloia, to a startling new talent.
