A young woman, a doctor, comes out of yet another shift at the Emergency Room. Her job has become a black hole in which everything else disappears, her boyfriend, her friends, her passions, her life outside. Trying to defend herself from the anger, frustration, impatience of the heterogeneous humanity that crowds those rooms, bit by bit she grows numb. The idealism of the early days becomes a vague memory, the enthusiasm fades shift by shift. And suddenly, Lucifer is there. At first it seems like a hallucination due to tiredness, but then his presence becomes constant. As the red codes, treatments, overnight admissions and urgent surgeries keep piling up in the Emergency Room, he is the only one who stays. Who fills the void left by others. He can be gentle and funny, keeping her engaged and challenging her. But he’s not there out of kindness. He comes with questions: what value do you give to your soul? how do you save yourself from the suffering of others? is there a right distance from evil? This thrilling, thought-provoking novel is a meditation on pain — the kind felt in one’s own flesh, and the kind carried by those who try to heal it. Bodies are riddles, terrifying abysses filled with misleading symptoms and hidden threats. With striking talent, Giorgia Protti blends hyperrealism and fantasy to portray the fears of those who suffer, and the silent fragilities of those who care for them. Her debut is powerful, original, and fearless — with a protagonist whose only weapons are passion, intelligence, and courage. 

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