Povera ma bella

Betta has been married to Tom for so long, but she has forgotten why. They stay together only for their teenage daughter and a shared financial struggle. They have survived on handouts from Tom’s mother, but when that well runs dry, they fall into sudden poverty.

When Tom leaves a note saying he needs a break, Betta decides to play her only remaining card: her beauty. At a bar in Trastevere, she meets an elderly man and confesses her life story. He does not ask for her number, yet the next day, she finds 500 euros in her mailbox. This sparks a mysterious relationship driven not by sexual desire, but by a desperate craving for wealth. Lidia Ravera masterfully explores a seduction based entirely on the hunger for material things.

Author: Lidia Ravera

She was born in Turin. A journalist and writer, she achieved fame in 1976 with her debut novel, Pigs with Wings, a bestseller with three million copies sold (now published by Bompiani, also in a graphic novel version). She has written thirty works of fiction. Her latest novels, Piangi pure, Gli scaduti, Il terzo tempo, L’amore che dura, Avanti, parla, and One Day All This Will Be Yours (2024) are in the Bompiani catalog, as are the autobiographical novella Tempo con bambina and the short story La somma di due. The essay Age Pride (Einaudi) was published in 2023. She has worked for film, theater, and television.