The measure of time by Gianrico Carofiglio

 

Name of Book: The Measure of Time

Author: Gianrico Carofiglio, Howard Curtis 

ISBN: 978-1-913394-48-6

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press 

Part of a Series: Guido Guerrero Series 

Type of book: Italy, mystery, crime, contemporary times, former lover, lawyer, time, translation, possibly mafia, danger

Year it was published: 2021 (2019)

Summary:

The latest in the Guido Guerrieri series. The setting is Bari in Southern Italy. Against his own instincts, defence attorney Guerrieri takes on an appeal against what looks like an unassailable murder conviction. The alleged perpetrator is the son of a former lover. A taught legal thriller and a meditation about the ravages of time.

Characters:

Main character is Guido Guerrieri, a sixty plus lawyer who had a lucrative career. He is best described as cultured, even tempered, loves to work out and has very good friends and inspires loyalty in others. There are other characters such as such as his associates and close friends, but they didn't play a huge role in the story. There is also Lorenza, his former older lover who seems to thrive on chaos and is complete opposite of him as well as her son who has  had a troubling history and needs good protection. In this particular book, Lorenza plays an outsize role and quite often Guido reminisces about his memories of her. 

Theme:

No one is undamaged by time

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Guerrieris point of view, and definitely classifies as a standalone. The novel starts when Guerrieris former lover, Lorenza, comes to him for help with her son, who has been in trouble before and is in trouble now with the law at the point of being in jail. Guido ( Guerrieris first name) takes up the case and with some help from his friends/ associates begins to figure out what has happened. While he does that, he often ruminate on PASSAGE of time. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Gianrico Carofiglio (born 1961) is a novelist and former anti-Mafia judge in the Italian city of Bari. His debut novel, Involuntary Witness, was published in 2002 and translated into English in 2005 by Patrick Creagh and published by the Bitter Lemon Press, and has been adapted as the basis for a popular television series in Italy. The subsequent novels were translated by Howard Curtis.

Carofiglio won the 2005 Premio Bancarella award for his novel "Il passato è una terra straniera". He is also Honorary President of The Edinburgh Gadda Prize which celebrates the work of Carlo Emilio Gadda.

The Past is a Foreign Country is the English language title of the 2004 novel Il passato è una terra straniera. It won the 2005 Premio Bancarella literary award. It has been translated into English

Opinion:

Most of the time when I read mysteries or thrillers and fiction, the characters tend to be young and while knowledgeable, they aren't preoccupied with time. However in this case, the main character is on the older/ MATURE side and there are lots of meditations and ruminations about time. There is definitely a mystery, and while a series, I get the sense that it could also be a standalone novel. 

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)