‘At long last she was playing the role she had alwaysdreamt about, that of a mother, full of anxious solicitude, preparing to confide her daughter into the handsof a young man with good intentions, good prospectsand a good character.’

A mother decides to follow her daughter to the city, she settles in the suburbs with her older daughter and son-in-law in tow. She quickly grows restless and is eager to find new friends. Brassy, bossy and perpetually dissatisfied she strikes up a friendship with the mysterious Scilla, and soon the two women are planning to open an art gallery.

But there is more to Scilla than meets the eye. After a series of afternoons spent at bars having coffee granitas with cream, and at Scilla’s apartment on Via Tripoli, it quickly becomes apparent that the connections and the cul-tured life promised by Scilla may never materialise, despite always being just within reach.

What proceeds is a story of the dissolution of a family, and the role that class plays in its downfall. Sagittarius is the story of misplaced confidence and am-bition gone awry, recounted by a wary daughter.