La forma dell’acqua / The shape of water

The Shape of Water is the first novel featuring Inspector Montalbano of Vigàta. Camilleri wrote it in 1994, and it was a true breakthrough—not so much for its inventive language, but for the way its protagonist was constructed.
In 2014, Michele Serra wrote:
“In his debut scene in the world of literature, Salvo Montalbano is absent. Or rather, he is present, but not among us. He is with himself. He is sleeping. And he is dreaming. Not just any dream, but an erotic one—an intense embrace with his distant yet close Livia. His dream is abruptly interrupted by a phone call from Sergeant Fazio. A man is dead, a new case has begun. Torn from himself, dragged out of bed, interrupted in the most intense and private of psychic ecstasies, the inspector curses as he tries to grasp ‘not so much the receiver, but the fleeting remnants of the dream that was inexorably fading away.’ It is the relentless metaphor of a birth—a sudden and traumatic call into the world. From a protective womb—sleep, the woman, the embrace—to his duty. Those remnants can never be stitched back together; that dream is forever broken. From that moment on, Salvo Montalbano belongs to us: his creator has delivered him to readers and viewers alike.”
A novel that felt like a revolution, and with it, Montalbano would achieve the rare and coveted fusion of popularity and literature. The book also features a special note by Antonio Manzini.