Viviana Zappa

In 1956, advertising copywriter Emmi Creola invents the fictional character Betty Bossi, who quickly becomes a Swiss culinary icon. But as her creation rises to fame, Emmi finds herself caught between growing professional expectations and her own personal struggles — a tension that threatens to consume her.

Among the many odd jobs Matilda, a provincial girl, takes on to make ends meet is playing the role of a princess in historical costume reenactments. But when she finds herself pregnant, her boyfriend Pietro refuses to take any responsibility. Matilda then decides to have an abortion, with the help and support of her friend Anna, a fashionable painter who sees her as a reflection of herself. And thanks to Anna, she also comes into contact with Andrea, a wealthy young man whose family boasts noble origins. As if by fate, the role she plays in the reenactments begins to come in handy in a new, far more engaging fiction.

During the traditional carnival celebrations, the dead body of a young girl is found near the small town of Bellinzona, in Southern Switzerland. The officers engaged in the case find themselves investigating crimes rooted in a past full of shadows.