Irene by Caroline Baglioni and Michelangelo Bellani

Irene is the debut novel by playwrights Caroline Baglioni and Michelangelo Bellani, with an afterword by Graziano Graziani. The story follows Irene, a twenty-year-old university student living in a pristine white open-plan apartment bought by her parents as a shelter from the outside world. At night, however, the space becomes crowded with unsettling presences: intrusive roommates who embody care, obsession, control, and self-destructive impulses.

Rooted in theatrical writing and driven by visionary language, the novel unfolds as a psychological coming-of-age story marked by escalating intensity and hard-won self-awareness.

The book was designed by Demetrio Mancini and published by Rrose Sélavy. Its design mirrors this psychological tension through a restrained yet expressive typographic system: RL Folklor is used for the headline treatment, paired with Voland and Sole Sans for the body text.