Libro scoperto questa mattina, ovviamente mi ha colpito principalmente per la cover…poi anche per la trama. L’unico problema? Uscirà a dicembre 2012!
Ma intanto alcuni dati e la trama per stuzzicare chi di voi legge in inglese…sperando che anche qualche casa editrice italiana ne resti incuriosita. 😉

The Friday Society di Adrienne Kress

• Penguin, Dial
• 978-0-8037-3761-7
• $17.99 Hardcover
• Young adult/Fiction (Steampunk)
• 304 pages
• publication date: december 2012

Be Your Own Hero . . .
Set in London at the turn of the last century, the novel follows the stories of three intelligent and very talented young women, all of whom are assistants to very powerful men: Cora, lab assistant to a member of parliament; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant to a martial arts guru; and Nellie, a magician’s assistant. The three young women’s lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man.
It’s up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder—and the crimes they believe may be connected to it‐‐without calling too much attention to themselves.
Told with Adrienne Kress’s sharp wit and a great deal of irreverence, this Steampunk whodunit introduces three unforgettable and very ladylike–well, relatively ladylike–heroines poised for more dangerous adventures.

Excerpt:
Cora skipped lightly down the steps.
Then she pulled her pistol from her purse, and placed it firmly between the fifteenth and sixteenth vertebrae of the stranger standing in the middle of the room.
“Is that a pistol you’ve placed firmly between my fifteenth and sixteenth vertebrae?”
The young gentleman’s voice was surprisingly calm, Cora thought, considering the situation.
“It is indeed,” she replied.
The young man didn’t say anything for a second.
Then: “I ask only because there have been occasions when an individual might pretend they are threatening a person with a pistol when really they are using something far more mundane. Like a finger maybe.”
“I suppose that could happen.”
“And if I spin around and use a spectacular set of moves I learned while at school, and I disarm you of this instrument of death, I will indeed be removing a weapon and not, say, pulling your finger.”
“I can assure you, sir, this is no finger.”
There was a sudden flurry of activity as the young man spun on the spot, his arms a blur, and Cora found herself no longer holding on to her pistol.

La trama in italiano:
Sii l’eroe di te stesso…
Ambientato nella Londra di fine secolo scorso, il romanzo segue le storie di tre giovani donne intelligenti e dal grande talento, tutte assistenti di uomini molto potenti: Cora, assistente di un membro del parlamento, Michiko, assistente giapponese di un guru delle arti marziali, e Nellie, assistente di un mago. Le vite delle tre giovani donne si intrecciano inesorabilmente dopo il casuale incontro ad un ballo, che termina con la scoperta di un misterioso uomo assassinato.
Toccherà alle tre ragazze, con il loro affascinante ma audace metodo personale di ricerca, risolvere l’omicidio  e i crimini che crederanno possano essere collegati ad esso,  senza richiamare troppa attenzione su loro stesse.
Raccontato con spirito arguto e una grande quantità di irriverenza da Adrienne Kress , questo giallo Steampunk introduce tre indimenticabili e veramente signorili – beh, relativamente signorili – eroine pronte per le avventure più pericolose.