The swan cover

The swan

by Sebastiano Vassalli

A satirical portrait of a 19th century Mafia don. He is Raffaele Palizzolo, a dandy with pretensions to culture and civility. But when an Italian bank official gets in his way he behaves like a hood, ordering him to be killed.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?