Puzzle

Fiction. Italian Studies. In the spirit of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan stories, PUZZLE follows a young couple during Italy's infamous period known as the "Anni di Piombo," or "Years of Lead." Sebastiano and Maria Clara meet at a 1970s rock concert, an encounter that launches them on the road to self-discovery and the reinvention of the Italian idea of the heterosexual couple. The love they find in each other provides them with the strength to overcome the hate they face as they navigate their way through southern Italian traditions and the world events that invade their little corner of Puglia. Filled with the hope of changing times, they work together, and sometimes against each other, to survive the corruption and terrorism that permeates the body politic in order to make life better for the next generation.