The Priest's Hat

''The Priest's Hat'' () is an 1887 novel by the Italian writer Emilio De Marchi.

Background

Emilio De Marchi wrote ''The Priest's Hat'' in a deliberate attempt to create a popular serial novel that was of high literary level and avoided obscene features De Marchi associated with French literature.

Plot

Inspired by a real murder case, ''The Priest's Hat'' is about an impoverished former playboy in Naples who plots to murder a greedy priest to be able to repay a loan.

Publication

The story was serialised in June 1887 and published as a book in 1888. It stood out with its ambitious marketing campaign, which included large posters depicting a mysterious hat that were placed all over Milan. It became a major bestseller in Italy.

In 2003, the scholar Nicolas J. Perella called the novel "a nicely wrought 'mystery' structured in the fashion of the appendix novel but written without the crudeness of style and language that too often characterized that genre". He wrote that it is "written in a readily accessible, yet dignified manner, and with just enough psychological probing to add some depth to the story".

Adaptations

The novel was the basis for the 1944 film '' The Priest's Hat'' directed by Ferdinando Maria Poggioli and the 1970 RAI TV serial ' directed by Sandro Bolchi.

References

External links

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Italica Press

1887 novels
19th-century Italian novels
Italian novels adapted into films
Italian novels adapted into television shows
Novels set in Naples
Italian crime novels
Novels about murder
Novels first published in serial form

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