Book description
The locals in the Italian village where he lives call him Signor
Farfalla - Mr Butterfly. He is a discreet gentleman who spends his
time studying rare butterflies.
But Farfalla's real profession is deadly. He considers himself an
artisan, not for the butterflies he paints but for the guns he creates
for assassins.
Farfalla has resolved to make his next job his last. Then, perhaps,
he can settle down comfortably in the Italian village he has grown to
love and enjoy the remainder of his life without constantly looking
over his shoulder.
But a treacherous circle is closing in on him...
Martin Booth
, novelist, critic, biographer, children's author and social historian,
died of a brain tumor in 2004. Shortly after diagnosis, he began to
write his acclaimed memoir of his childhood in Hong Kong,
Gweilo
which he completed shortly before his death. Amongst his acclaimed
novels were
Hiroshima Joe
, based on the life of a real down-and-out Briton who had survived the
Nagasaki atomic raid,
The Industry of Souls,
which was short-listed for the Booker prize, and
A Very Private
Gentleman,
which has now been filmed as
The American,
starring George Clooney.
