At Le Parisien, we loved Luca Di Fulvio and, even if we knew he had Charcot's disease (an incurable degenerative disease), the announcement this Thursday, June 1, by his wife, of his death the day before upsets us. Adorable, charming and joking, he was above all an exceptional storyteller who thrilled us with his historical novels.
Shunned in his country but a star in Germany, the writer had conquered the France with "The Gang of Dreams" released in 2016, in an almost general indifference. Carried by booksellers and a rather crazy word of mouth, this story had quickly established itself as a bestseller with sales (all formats combined) that now exceed 200,000 copies.
A hard worker, passionate and exciting, Luca Di Fulvio continued with "The Children of Venice" then "The Sun of the Rebels", "The Prisoners of Freedom" and "Mama Roma". Each time, blocks of more than 600 pages difficult to let go once the first page is read. All excellent. The author had a real talent to embark us in incredible and addictive epics. Whether in New York in the 1920s, Venice during the Renaissance, German Bohemia in the Middle Ages or Argentina at the beginning of the last century.
"Luca was an exceptional novelist"
In each of his books, the same recipe: a plunge into an often distant era, two young heroes – beautiful and courageous – who oppose everything but who share the same thirst for ideals, a cause to defend, a zest of violence, a lot of suspense. Not to mention a love story with a capital A!
He was called a popular writer and it made him laugh. "Yes, I like to write stories that end well and yes, my heroes change the world. They are the children I would have liked to be," he told us, his eyes sparkling during one of his visits to Paris. He liked to gather journalists and booksellers around a good table. In his very Italian French, he held his guests in suspense and made them laugh.
Since his death, his tiny house Slatkine & Cie and his publisher Henri Bovet have collapsed. And to emphasize: "Luca was an exceptional novelist, who has been compared to Dickens, Zola or especially to Dumas. He had invented a new genre that reconciled all audiences of readers in large novels to read in one go. His unique style did not take the time to put on shoes to run by giving life to heroes that he tossed in a romantic hell where good always ended up defeating evil. " Generous to the end, Luca Di Fulvio leaves a gift to his readers. He had just reread the proofs of his latest book, "The Hidden Paradise" which will be published on August 23.
