Tag Archives: italy

ANGELA PETCH ON THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY OF RESEARCH

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I felt a weight of responsibility to get my research right for The Girl who Escaped. A main male protagonist is based on my Italian grandfather-in-law and I wanted to respect Luigi’s courage, as well as accurately represent the plight of Jews in Italy.

The first book I consulted was: It happened in Italy, written by an Italo-American lady. Elizabeth Bettina wrote of an internment camp for Jews near her grandparents’ village of Campagna. They’d been treated with kindness and respect. This was a revelation. I had only come across stories of gruesome concentration camps. Did camps like Campagna exist in Tuscany?

I found a camp called Villa Oliveto where archives for internment camps were stored. Brilliant! The hunt was on! I found accounts and photos of this place in the 1940s.

We travelled to the picturesque location set in olive groves near Civitella in Val di Chiana, but the villa, a former orphanage, was closed and archives no longer stored there.

All was not lost, however. I wandered around the building, taking photographs and notes. Then, I came across a puzzling, fading plaque, which told me the villa had once housed British Jews. Extremely puzzled, I asked a local woman who was walking past. But she had no idea. I speak fluent Italian and this helps when researching.

I enjoy a research puzzle and when I discovered the explanation later, it inspired a new character. Bear with me…

A young woman called Shira is a Cyreneican Jew from eastern Libya. (A former Italian colony). After Italy joined the Germans in 1940, many Libyan Jews were sent to concentration camps where they were treated abominably.  Jews lost trust in the Italian government, and began to support the British. The British had first conquered Cyrenaica in December 1940 and abolished Mussolini’s racial laws. Many Jewish men joined the British army and were granted British citizenship. Here was the link I needed.

On April 3rd 1941, Italian and German forces pushed British forces from Benghazi. Jews were arrested by the Italians, especially those who had allied themselves with the enemy, and were sent to the notorious Giado camp. Some Libyan Jews, however, were sent back to Italian camps. I’ve never found the exact reason, but have allowed myself artistic license through detective work. In a brilliant Italian book covering the persecution of Jews in Italy I found possible explanations of why Shira and other Libyan Jews might have landed in Italy, instead of elsewhere.

The Italian government knew about extermination of Jews already by the second half of 1942 – when they’d heard of massacres of Jews in Russia, from word sent home by Italian officers operating on the Eastern front. And foreign Jews who had arrived in Italy, including Hersz Kawa from Siedlce, Poland, had also talked of atrocious treatment too. He and two others had managed to escape in an empty wagon of a train bound for Italy. They spoke to Italian guards who made sure they were sent to an Italian camp, rather than German.  Similar events happened in Vichy France, when French Jews escaped to Italy because they felt they would be better treated.

I’m hoping that the same thing might have happened to those British Libyan Jews mentioned on the plaque. Saved by Italian soldiers acting with conscience.

 

The Girl Who Escaped:  https://geni.us/B0BYC1V9NHcover

 

 

 

 

JANE CABLE REVIEWS APRIL’S NEW RELEASES

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The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh

A dual timeline based around Arthur Evans’ archaeological digs at Knossos on Crete, this book has an incredible sense of place, time and history. The heat and the dust from the excavations rise up from the page as the Victorian characters scrape in the earth and wash dirt from shards of pot.

In 1900 Alice departs on a grand tour of Europe accompanying her aunt and young nephews. She is heartbroken and in terrible disgrace, so her kindly family have sent her away to recover. In the present day timeline Eloise leaves for Crete on the day of her husband’s funeral wearing a red dress and red shoes. It’s clear she is glad he has gone – but why?

The book is packed full of history, myth, and dreams, with italicised sections which could be either of the latter, almost making it a triple timeline. But having read Alexandra Walsh’s other books I was not expecting this to be a simple love story and it is anything but.

A final word: don’t let the cast list at the front put you off – it really isn’t needed as all the main characters are so memorable.

 

The Cruise by Caroline James

I am not a great reader of romantic comedy, but I really enjoy Caroline James’ books. Not just because the protagonists are ladies in their sixties having a fabulous time, but because everything about them and their adventures is so beautifully observed and the pathos and humour eased out.

In The Cruise three single friends (one widowed, one almost divorced and the other resolutely single) decide to head to the Caribbean for Christmas. I loved the descriptions of the islands and it was wonderful to be back in a Barbados I recognised, albeit through the pages of a book. Anne, Jane and Kath, and the supporting cast of characters are bound to make you smile, so book your cabin now.

 

A Village in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd and Angelika Patel

I don’t often review non-fiction but I loved the premise of this book; to follow the life of a single village in Germany from the end of the First World War, and all through the Second.

It did not disappoint, and I would say it is essential reading for anyone interested in the era. It brings the human stories of the inhabitants of Oberstdorf in the Bavarian Alps to the fore, while setting them firmly in their social and political context. Whether dipping in and out, or reading from cover to cover, this in an exceptional history and meticulously researched.

 

The Girl Who Escaped by Angela Petch

This book is Angela Petch at her best, with a purely historical narrative set in her beloved Italy during the Second World War. It’s a gripping tale that explores the plight of the Jewish community as fascism tightened its hold on the country, and the efforts of the Italian resistance to return their nation to the tolerant society it once had been.

The Girl Who Escaped follows the stories of not only Italian Jew Devora, but her schoolfriends Luigi, a clandestine partisan, and Rico who may or may not be a collaborator. Their stories unfold and entwine, with Devora always centre stage as the world she has known crumbles around her when fascism begins to bite.

It’s an incredibly well researched book, so rich in detail that it absolutely transported me to Urbino during the Second World War, to circumstances that were at times so painful it was hard to read on. But, heart in mouth, I persevered, because I just had to know what happened. And that is the mark of a truly great storyteller.

PUBLICATION DAY SPECIAL: THE FOREVER GARDEN BY ROSANNA LEY

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I’m a big fan of Rosanna Ley’s books and this was no exception; in fact, it’s one of my favourites. The characters are instantly believable, the descriptions sumptuous and the whole story is perfectly tensioned between three viewpoint characters and two timelines.

The story is told from the points of view of Lara (in the 1940s and present day), her daughter Rose, and her granddaughter Bea, and it revolves around two very special gardens. The first is in Dorset, created by Lara’s mother based on the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement. It is this garden that Lara promises her mother to protect, which is the starting point for the drama that follows. The second garden is one that Lara later creates in Puglia.

The relationships between the women – and their gardens – are beautifully drawn. That Lara left the Dorset garden behind is evident from the outset, but in the hands of such a skilled storyteller, my desire to find out the whys and wherefores made it hard to put the book down. The Forever Garden will not only transport you from Dorset to Italy and back, it’s a journey you cannot fail to enjoy.

I was so entranced by the gardens that I asked Rosanna what her inspiration for them had been, and what her own Dorset garden is like:

 

I’ve always loved gardens. My parents were both keen gardeners and I have happy memories of running around our back garden as a child, playing out imaginary stories, dodging amongst my mother’s washing pegged out on the line and my father’s precious raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes.

Our own garden here in Dorset is not large but it wraps around the house and so I feel cocooned and sheltered – which is good as we live near the sea and it can be very windy! Because of the sea air I have plants that can withstand these conditions such as lavender, rosemary, thrift, hollyhocks and erigeron daisies. I am a fan of the cottage garden and of fragrant plants that attract insects, butterflies and bees – natural gardens and wild gardens. The garden also has two bird baths, two tamarisk trees, a pergola of clematis, honeysuckle and roses and a couple of places to sit and write or think in. And we are very lucky because it also has a sea view…

I was inspired to write about an Arts & Crafts garden after I visited Barrington Court in Somerset. The gardens there were laid out in the 1920’s to a structured design influenced by the famous Arts & Crafts garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. She believed passionately in the beauty of the natural landscape and – like me – valued the ordinary plants familiar to gardeners today, such as hostas, lavender and sweet-scented old-fashioned roses.

I immediately loved the Arts & Crafts concept of the garden being a continuation of the house, and of that garden being made up of several small rooms – each one with its own character and flavour. After all, when we go into a garden, we don’t always want to do the same thing. We might want to grow vegetables and be in the mood for some hard-core digging, or we might want to sit quietly in a soft and beautiful space that enables us to reflect, read a good book or just watch the birds go by.

In an Arts & Crafts garden, plants are sometimes chosen for their colour. A white garden, for example, can create a sense of tranquillity through the green of the foliage and the white flowers which are often considered healing for the mind and spirit. Or they might be chosen according to season. In ‘The Forever Garden’ there is a spring garden full of early bulbs such as daffodils and tulips which represents hope and new beginnings; this symbolism becomes very important to Lara in the story.

I like to think of the ‘Forever Garden’ as an important character in the book. For Lara it is both prison and sanctuary. The garden saves her and it also sets her free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: VICTORIA SPRINGFIELD ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE ITALIAN HOLIDAY

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Choosing a favourite scene from my debut novel The Italian Holiday was rather like choosing a favourite pasta sauce or flavour of Italian gelati – impossible not to keep changing my mind!  My unlucky-in-love heroine, Bluebell has always wanted to visit Italy but taking her granny’s place on Loving and Knitting magazine’s trip isn’t quite what she had in mind.  When she realises she has picked up the wrong suitcase at Naples airport, Bluebell is horrified – until she discovers the colourful, confidence boosting dresses inside fit like a glove.

Bluebell and her unlikely new pals stay at the fictional Hotel Sea Breeze in Minori, a charming seaside town just along the coast from Amalfi.  I first visited Minori in 2015, and my then-boyfriend and I loved it so much we ‘eloped’ there to get married two years later.  Exploring the area whilst on honeymoon, I knew that it would make the perfect setting for a story of unusual friendships, finding love when you least expect it – and how the right dress can change your life.

My protagonists explore the gardens in Ravello, take a boat trip to Positano and visit unforgettable Capri but I have chosen a day trip to Sorrento, in the first part of the book, as my favourite scene.  The women are up early ‘despite their late night dancing on the seafront’ and assemble ‘by the reception desk, chatting away, clutching a mixture of sun hats and cardigans just in case the fine June day turned out to be too hot or too cold.’  Bluebell and her new friend, 72-year-old Miriam, holidaying abroad for the first time since her husband’s death, swap stories at the back of the coach whilst little Evie is busy with her ‘top-secret knitting project.’

When the guide they are due to meet in Sorrento is taken ill, down-to-earth Brenda comes to the rescue and leads the others on her own tour, exploring the via San Cesareo where ‘boxes of soft peaches and oversized knobbly lemons were piled up beneath canopies hung with waxy red chillies…Italian mothers bargained with stall holders and remonstrated with recalcitrant children.  Overhead, strings of colourful flags criss-crossed the narrow street.’  Down in the marina, they feast on ‘bruschette fragrant with oil and garlic, topped by the brightest chopped tomatoes with shredded basil…peppers and aubergines cooked until they were soft and velvety.’

The women, near strangers until now, begin to gel and the reader gets a hint of the adventures that lie ahead.  Spotting a wedding in the cloisters where the glamorous outfits are a far cry from ‘the sturdy pastel two-pieces worn at a typical English wedding for fear of upstaging the bride,’ Bluebell wonders if she is quite as cynical about love as she likes to think she is.  Meanwhile Miriam gets a ‘faraway look in her eyes’ perhaps thinking of handsome Tommaso who runs Minori’s Trattoria di Napoli where the women ate the previous night.

After their busy day in Sorrento, the ladies are looking forward to an early night except for Bluebell who has a date with ‘tight-trousered’ hotel waiter Andrea.  Bluebell plans to wear a special outfit from the mystery suitcase: ‘the prettiest dress of them all.’  Later that evening, the ‘orange, full-skirted number covered in big white poppies’ will attract the attention of an intriguing young man, sending Bluebell and Miriam on the trail of the mysterious girl in the poppy-print dress.

 

The Italian Holiday and A Farmhouse in Tuscany are published by Orion Dash.  Victoria’s new book, set in Lucca, The Italian Fiancé is out August 2022.

Twitter: @VictoriaSWrites

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: LEONIE MACK ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE VENICE

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My latest book, We’ll Always Have Venice, is my second romantic comedy set in Venice and is a summer love story, following the winter adventure of A Match Made in Venice. Whereas the first book explored Murano and the ancient art of glassmaking, as well as the old city itself, the second book features the idyllic lagoon and the further islands, including Burano.

The main character, Norah, is a marine microbiologist exploring the lagoon to collect samples every weekend with her guide, rower and oarmaker Gianluca. Every weekend is an adventure, taking refuge in an island monastery during a storm, picnicking with flamingos and dodging cruise ships.

One of my favourite scenes is where they accidentally disturb some fishing nets and bump into the fisherman and his son. But they’re not catching fish. The nets contain a local delicacy only available in May. And with true Burano hospitality, they end up pleasantly tipsy on Prosecco with stomachs full of delicately fried crab.

 

Gianluca squinted at the net. ‘Moeche,’ he said, a grin breaking out. He dropped her hand and strode over to the fishermen. He beckoned to Norah with quick fingers. ‘It’s crabs. Look!’

At the word ‘crabs’, she shrank back. Crustaceans were her least favourite form of marine life, coming in after gelatinous zooplankton and ectoparasitic flukes. She shook her head fiercely at Gianluca.

‘These aren’t just any crabs,’ said Gianluca with enthusiasm.

‘These,’ explained the fisherman grandly, ‘are nude crabs. Or they will be in some days, I hope.’

‘Did he say “nude crabs”?’ Reluctantly curious, she approached and inspected the specimen in the palm of the older man’s hand. ‘That’s carcinus aestuarii, the common green crab. And it’s about to moult. Natural behaviour for this species in spring, I believe.’

‘But have you ever eaten it, fried lightly in oil?’ Gianluca said, his face lit up. He turned to the older man and spoke in rapid dialect. A moment later, they were shaking hands and clapping each other on the shoulder like long-lost friends.

Norah watched with a smile tugging on one side of her mouth. Her brain filled in the blanks of the conversation:

‘For your nòna, I will give you a good price – and because you can speak my dialect!’

‘I have always wanted to meet a nude crab fisherman!’

‘Lucky for you the crabs are nude and not the fisherman – bahahaha.’

They followed Emiliano and Daniele back to the island of Mazzorbo, where they sorted the crabs into submerged baskets according to the imminence of their moulting and retrieved the jelly-like specimens that had already shed their shells and were crawling around nude.

Norah’s stomach rumbled as Gianluca rowed up to Burano. Earlier that day, they’d stopped for lunch at an osteria on the eastern side of the island, but she hadn’t seen the main canal. The fondamenta was bustling with tourists visiting the lace ateliers or stopping at market stalls, and locals wandering to their favourite spots for their evening aperitivo. The brightly coloured houses – sky blue, hot pink and lime green – were a shock after the graduating greens, blues and browns of the lagoon. Flapping laundry hung from ropes under the upper windows. The buildings were only two or three storeys high, making the island feel like a village in comparison to its grand old sister to the south.

Will you be covered by your travel insurance?

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We are in worrying times and faced with the ultimate decision would you choose health over money. Is it worth the risk?
Insurance is a necessary evil and an added expense designed to safeguard travellers. It could be a saviour if you are caught in a difficult situation once you are on your holiday. But will it cover you if you want to cancel your holiday and stay at home?  

Insurance rules for epidemics and pandemics

Unfortunately, everything comes down to the stuff we hardly ever read – the small print. Previous outbreaks of world-threatening viruses like SARS, Ebola and Zika, have influenced insurers to be cautious and include only the necessary coverage for such events. And epidemics and pandemics have become excluded from most insurance coverage. Leaving holidaymaker covered for what will happen to them, but not what might happen to them. The World Health Organization has declared the latest virus outbreak as an international health emergency. However, although the insurance companies agree, they aren’t surprised by the newest virus to reach epidemic proportions, and to them, it is an expected risk they have already factored into their policies

Despite the lockdown happening in Italy at the moment, Europe is not on code red yet. There has been no official warning from the FCO not to travel in Europe. Special care should be taken in areas of South Korea (Daegu & Cheongdo) and China is still a no go zone. An FCO warning is the deciding factor for the airlines, travel agents, holiday and insurance companies, to motivate them to cancel flights or holiday packages and issue refunds.

Should I take my family on holiday?

The general insurance small print on the matter of epidemics or pandemics states that most claims will be assessed based on individual cases. But this doesn’t give much assurance to an average family about to embark on an international flight. And it doesn’t provide enough information for anyone debating whether to put health & safety first and stay at home instead. At the moment The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)  and the government are asking travellers to reconsider their need to travel rather than giving a direct warning. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean much to the insurance companies and asking the public to contemplate whether it is wise to travel will not entitle them to a refund for their holiday. Deciding to travel without heeding the advice of the FCO may forfeit your right to claim back any of your medical expenses or costs of repatriation. However, if your destination was not on the ‘no go’ list when you travelled but has subsequently been upgraded, you will fall into an insurance grey area, and any settlement will be based on discretion when you make a claim. In some areas, the risk may be low, but that doesn’t mean that in the worst-case scenario, it won’t escalate or in the best-case, diminish to nothing. Cancelling a holiday you have promised your kids for months. Or have saved your pennies to make happen, is a tough choice. But there may be other factors to consider when making a final decision. Do you need to go? Is your health good? Is anyone you will be travelling with vulnerable (young, elderly, or has a suppressed immune system? The decision will be a real tug of war between your head and your heart.

Best and worst-case scenarios

If you’ve planned your trip a long way in advance. Hopefully, you booked your insurance before the latest epidemic scare started too. If so, it is likely you will be refunded if the FCO advises against travel to your destination, and your journey is cancelled, rescheduled or shortened by the providers. Unfortunately, if the FCO haven’t declared your destination a ‘no go’ zone, it is unlikely that you will be able to recoup any of your initial your costs unless you can change or defer your holiday. Hotels are usually more forgiving in these cases. And some airlines are more forgiving when changing flights than others. However, the budget airlines tend to be strict unless you have taken precautions in advance and booked a trip with extra adaptability. If you decide to take the risk and travel to a destination not banned by the FCO, you should be medically covered if something happens, as long as your insurance policy was booked in advance. However, the level of cover differs between companies and policies. And make sure you take appropriate precautions to reduce the risk of infection. Otherwise, it is unlikely you will receive any compensation at all.

Travel thoughts: Christmas markets

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I lived in France for ten years where the Christmas hype started much later and was much more low key. So for me, the Christmas markets signify the beginning of the festive period. Being cocooned by the closeness of the beautifully decorated stalls, almost suffocated by the homely aroma of vin chaud and heartened by the promise of melted cheese on bread, was an event worth attending even if I didn’t have a shopping agenda.

A tradition which originated in Germany in the late middle ages to mark the four weeks of Advent, the popularity of the Christmas market soon filtered through Europe to Switzerland, France, Italy and Spain. Surprisingly, even though local markets have occupied a place on the town squares of England for many years, the extravagant English Christmas fayres of the past didn’t return to our cities until the 1990s. Banned by the puritan leaders of Cromwell’s reign for being, an icon of a wasteful festival that threatened Christian beliefs and encouraged immoral activities, Christmas markets in all their glory took a long time to re-emerge. Festive products and foodstuffs eventually found their way back onto the English market stalls in the Victorian era. And thankfully now the dedicated Christmas markets of the past are once again popping up all over the country offering an abundance of tempting treats handmade gifts and a chance to meet the maker.

More popular than ever, festive markets are now regular events in the larger cities of Scotland (Edinburgh & Glasgow), Wales (Cardiff ) and England (London, Manchester, Leeds & Birmingham). Smaller towns and country estates have also eagerly adopted the unique yuletide shopping opportunity. York, Bath and Blenheim Palace are amongst the most popular heritage sites to make use of their elegant architecture as backdrops for complex projections, spectacular light manifestations and laser displays to wow the shoppers as they browse the stalls for festive goodies.

 

christmas treats

 

The best Christmas markets still take place within the leading countries of Europe. Cultural styles dominate the handcrafted objects on sale, varying the design of the jewellery, ceramics, and toys from region to region. The geographical differences don’t stop there, the choirs, the minstrels and vibrancy of the dancers who entertain the crowds all vary dramatically too.

Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Nuremberg still attract the highest numbers of visitors every year and are the biggest Christmas markets. Hot Bratwurst and gallons of beer are amongst the tempting treats at the german street stalls. Further east, roasted hams and hot sugar-coated cake entices shoppers to the markets in Prague. In Bologna, it’s festive nougat made with almonds and honey that is a winner with the crowds. However diverse the flavours may be, there is always one tempting aroma that dominates – roasted chestnuts. And just writing about it is putting me in the festive mood, which reminds me, I must buy some more cinnamon!

 

Christmas treats

Take a Gastronomic Tour of Italy this week with Danilo Cortellini

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Danilo Cortellini

The London Foodie Supper Club hosts an extraordinary and glorious tour around Italy this week and he wants you all to join him. For four days only, beginning on the 12th July, guests will be able to immerse themselves in 10 exquisite courses prepared by Danilo Cortellini, Head Chef of the Italian Embassy in London. The evening will be hosted by The London Foodie, Luiz Hara who himself is a cordon bleu chef and successful food writer who has a passion for gastronomy and a want to share the very best with the World.

Your evening will start at 6:30pm with Canapés and a welcome cocktail followed by dinner at 7pm. The dishes will be comprised of 10 small signature plates taken from Cortellini’s debut book and will pay homage to the dishes of Abruzzo region which represent Cortellini’s heritage.

To give you an idea of the banquet the menu includes;

A traditional Cocktail made with Pecorino wine from Abruzzo

Canapés of Sicilian red prawn tartare marinated with red sweet chili with fresh burrata mousse.

Marinated mackerel with fresh buffalo mozzarella and asparagus

‘Pallotte cacio e ova’ (rustic cheese and bread balls served with pepper and tomato sauce with grated cheese)

Veal cheeks ‘pizzaiola’

Tortelli Multicolore with tomato and fresh marjoram.

Tickets are priced just £50 and must be purchased directly through Luiz at luizhara@hotmail.com

www.danilocortellini.com

http://www.thelondonfoodie.co.uk