Farewell to Montalbano

It’s over. I’m turning a leaf. I recently finished my work on Riccardino, the last inspector Montalbano novel, the last novel by Andrea Camilleri. I translated it into Spanish for Editorial Salamandra. Four years ago, when I had already translated a few of his works, I wrote this article for Bianco e Nero magazine. At the time, I was about to start translating El carrusel de las confusiones and I wanted to tell a little about what it was like to come face to face with a book by Camilleri. Then that special issue was launched in Rome and there I saw the Master and it was a very moving day for me.

And now it’s all over. Now, seven or eight books by Camilleri later, several conferences later and some very sad news later, I have delivered my translation of Riccardino, which was published in the Italian original by Sellerio Editore. After all these books, it’s over, but I am aware that I have been very lucky. I’ve really enjoyed it and I’ve learned a lot!

In the meantime, next month the penultimate book in the series, El cocinero del Alcyon, will be released in Spanish. And then, in the autumn, it will be Riccardino’s turn. Now I turn the page and leave many things behind, such as the craving for Sicilian food I had while translating these books, which were full of such delicacies as filling pasta n’casciata, crispy red mullets or tasty cannoli like the ones below.

I hope many readers enjoy Riccardino, which is a great inspector Montalbano novel and a great ending to the series. Long live Salvo Montalbano and long live Andrea Camilleri!