Q: How does the Italian way of living directly impact your writing and storytelling?
A: I have a beautiful hilltop view from my balcony. The sun, the moon, and the stars cross the sky, seemingly at eye level. It has been a wonderful vantage point for reflection and reinvention through the seasons. As I write in SAINTS about this region of Italy, “Irpinia opens itself up to you slowly, leads you into a wilderness of ancient times, when this land was inhabited by Samnites, Romans, and Langobards, the story arc of centuries written in their spolia.” This balcony in Italy has become my spirit gate.
Q: What are some of your favorite books/memoirs written in Italian/by Italians?
A: Dacia Maraini’s Bagheria is her memoir about her family's return to Sicily, near Palermo, after being released from an internment camp in Japan in WWII. As one of Italy's beloved and feminist writers, Maraini writes with a style that is intimate and revealing. I love place based memoirs. But Bagheria is also a father daughter story. A child of eight at the time, Maraini had experienced the deprivations of war in a foreign land, then returned to a country she barely knew. I read it in Italian.
“From myths and legends to romance and a form of 'reincarnated soul journey', Still Life With Saints proves even more captivating than its haunting predecessor The Ghosts of Italy. It's a top recommendation as a powerful memoir both for prior readers and newcomers interested in cross-cultural encounters and life changes."
— D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review
Bedside Reading's FALL BOOK LOVER'S GUIDE 2021 in Hollywood Weekly this October.Click on the links to read.
