Neil Gaiman
Nessun Dove

Fantasy genre enthusiasts who are not familiar with Gaiman, as soon as they read any of his works for the first time, fall hopelessly in love with them. His books can undoubtedly be labeled as fantasy, but the situations, settings, and events described by the author never stray too far from reality. This is especially true for his characters, each characterized by a rich background extensively described in the work: the interesting thing is that even fantastical creatures are described as if they were people, or vice versa, common situations are "fantasized." 

This is the case with Neverwhere (translated into Italian as "Nessun Dove").

The protagonist, Richard Mayhew, is an ordinary young man who moves to the city, to London, following an interesting job offer. Here he begins to settle in little by little, still leading an anonymous and monotonous existence. But this monotony is shaken by the encounter with the other protagonist of the book, whom we will later discover is named Lady Door. Richard finds her one evening, covered in rags, lying on the ground, wounded, and on a whim decides to take her home to offer her first aid. Soon he discovers that two dangerous hunters are looking for her, and their intentions do not seem the best. For the first time making a decision that seems crazy, Richard offers to help Lady Door, and accompanies her on a journey that will forever change the lives of both. 

This introduces London Below, the true masterpiece of the work (translated as "Londra di sotto"): physically it is represented as the sewers of the city, inhabited by humans mixed with fantastical creatures leading an existence completely apart from how we "people above" commonly understand it. There is a market where barter is the currency, strict rules on giving one's word, and using a future favor as currency, and many other rules that would seem absurd to us, but in that context make perfect sense. The reality that the more attentive reader will easily grasp is that London Below is an exquisite metaphor for those people, mostly homeless and wanderers, whom modern society ignores, to the point—as we will find in the book—of being physically unable to see them, as if they were invisible, or rather, imperceptible.

The book is written in a very smooth manner, with stylistic registers accessible to all, yet very precise at the same time. The book is enjoyable to read, although in several points of the story, to better untangle the intricate plot woven by the author, a second reading will be necessary. And the interesting thing is that by reading it a second time, details scattered here and there by Gaiman will pop up, which might have been overlooked at first. Gaiman's fantasy is for everyone, even for those who don't particularly love this genre. 

I advise all of you who have kindly spent time reading my review to experience the Gaiman world firsthand, I assure you that you will not regret it.