Jealousy

When former ladies-man Rocco Criscione is murdered on his wedding day, the most likely suspect is Neli Casaccio, a peasant who had a previous history with of arguing with the dead man. After a protracted court case, Casaccio is found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in jail, but the truth is that he he’s an innocent man. The true killer is a local aristocrat, the Marquis of Roccaverdina, who had been having a tempestuous affair with Rocco’s new wife, Agrippina and, consumed by jealousy at the prospect of losing her, had been driven to commit the crime.

The narrative then breaks into a lengthy flashback, told as the Marquis confesses his guilt to a priest, Don Silvio. It recounts the story of how he met Agrippina – she had come with her poor family to help with the olive harvest – and how the two of them fell in love. Naturally, it turns out to be a relationship which meets with disapproval from both his wealthy associates and her fellow workers. So the Marquis comes up with a plan that will ensure they can still be together but also quell all the gossip: she must marry Rocco, his trusted right hand man, but it will be a marriage in name only and she’ll be free to continue as his lover. Unfortunately, he then begins suspecting that the two of them might, really, be falling in love, and his scheming begins to unravel. —Thewildeye.co.uk