A work of fiction inspired by true events. Set in a time when death was a constant presence in the world of motor racing; an era in which a driver who had survived four seasons still had only a fifty per cent chance of making it through a fifth. It paints a portrait of a period when, even within the insulated world of Grand Prix racing, the winds of the late 1960s were beginning to blow: hair grew longer, skirts grew shorter, and minds became ever freer.
Running quietly beneath the surface of the novel is a simple question: why did men and women of remarkable intelligence and deep sensitivity choose to live such a life? For the men, the answer appears relatively straightforward: success, fame and money. For the women, it is far more complex, more painful… and ultimately more compelling.
Le ragazze del muretto tells the story of three close-knit couples over the course of a single racing season, from spring to autumn. Inseparable both at the circuits and away from them, the three drivers battle across the Grand Prix tracks of Europe in pursuit of the Formula One World Championship. Their wives are bound together by friendship, yet united by the burden they share. They love the men they have chosen but hate the profession that defines their lives. Still, they have accepted an existence shaped by fear and uncertainty.
Until they no longer can. Until fate comes knocking on each of their doors.
