All Rome Trembled

The Strange Affair of Wilma Montesi

THE WILMA MONTESORI SCANDAL

The nude body on the beach exploded Italy’s “Scandal of the Century.” Among the participants was a seemingly placid family group, with the beautiful young victim in its midst; suave Marchese from the South; his raven-haired mistress, one of Italy’s newly emancipated girl-women of the North; a jazz pianist, son of one of the nation’s rulers; his inamorata, a famous, still-lovely film star; a disillusioned, disoriented existentialist; her lover, a wild-eyed, drug-taking painter; maneuvering politicos of the Centre; an eager young editor who thought an exposé would set things right; the dynamic head of the nation’s security forces, who had too many friends; the fat chief of Rome’s police, who had too few; the smart Communist lawyer who was suddenly splattered with the mud he had hurled; the mountainous detective, ruthless in his investigations, breasting diversionary waves as he pushed towards terrible conclusions; and the carefree nephew of the ex-King of Italy…

“Sensational”—New York Herald Tribune