I have decided to post this today instead of on my return from our travels, as a tribute to Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011 as by coincidence he is quoted in the book as you will see if you read on. An amazing and erudite man that will be sorely missed but leaves us a lot to remember him by.
Italy in Books - Reading Challenge 2011
The October post for the list of books that the other people taking part are reading this month has already been posted. October Reviews
A blogging friend of mine Maggie from Normandy Life joined this challenge after reading about it on my blog. I enjoyed her review of Recipe For Life which you can read here and in response she kindly sent her copy to me.
This is the first title by this author that I have read and I doubt it will be the last as I believe they are all set in Italy. Although I am already here living the dream it was a pleasure to lose myself in the setting for this delightful novel for a few hours. A very relaxing read and the sights and smells felt almost real, it is obvious that the author knows those sights and smells for herself and is passionate about Italy.
The story is told by the two main female characters, Alice and Babetta in alternating chapters. Alice a young British girl has had a traumatic incident in her life which has caused her to drop out of university and for her whole life to change direction. She wants to make the most of her life but seems somewhat confused as to how to go about this. The other protagonist is Babetta the typical Italian mama figure who has spent her life tending to her family’s needs. Babetta is feeling lost as her husband seems to have lost his zest for life. leaving her feeling useless. One summer these vastly different women are brought together, thanks to the beautiful Villa Rosa. Despite not being able to communicate easily, cooking and growing fresh food enables these two women to build a special relationship.
If you are passionate about Italy then there is no doubt you will enjoy this story. There is a lot of romance but there is also so much more as our protagonist discovers that life’s lessons are certainly not learnt easily.
Biographical Information
Nicky Pellegrino was born in Liverpool on January 01 1964 but spent childhood summers staying with her family in southern Italy. A shy, tall, gingery child she never really fitted in with her exuberant Italian cousins and had a tendency to stay quiet and observe things.
When Nicky started writing fiction it was her memories of those summers in Italy that came flooding back and flavoured her stories: the passions, the feuds but most of all the food.
Nicky now lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband Carne (and yes she does find it slightly odd being married to a man whose name means “meat” in Italian), her large poodles and her even larger chestnut horse.
She works as a freelance journalist, has weekly columns in the Herald on Sunday newspaper and the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and her novels are distributed in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and have been translated into 12 languages.
She loves cooking for friends, drinking red wine, walking on New Zealand’s amazing beaches, riding her horse through the forest and lying in bed reading other people’s novels.
The TV advert played in New Zealand to promote ‘Recipe for Life’
Nicky Pellegrino discusses her novel ‘Recipe for Life.’
Information, photo and video used in this post is with thanks to the following websites.
I also post these ‘Italy in Books’ reviews on my other blog
News From Italy
Oh my goodness, another one I will have to buy now my friend. It looks really good. Thank you for finding all these books with an Italian influence for me!! Hee Hee! Steve Jobs really did speak some inspirational words, and his legacy will most certainly live on for years to come. So sad that he had to die so young. Have a lovely trip and see you when you get back!
ReplyDeleteDiane@ Personal Book Reviewer at your service. It is really good and I thought as I wrote the review just a few days before SJ died that I should publish now.
ReplyDeleteI think that quote from Steve Jobs has been repeated often by my sons! Enticing review...you are really on a roll...with all your reviews. Have a wonderful trip. Are you taking books???
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the book too, LindyLou.
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure to pass on a good book to a friend!
Enjoy your trip.
Patricia@ What an amazing man he was. I have been working really hard to catch up on the back log of reviews, which will hopefully keep my readers busy while we are away. Packing a couple of books we have promised our daughter, but otherwise we both have our eReaders. I never thought I would succumb but must keep up with the times.
ReplyDeleteMaggie@ Thanks so much for passing this on to me and introducing me to this author.
It is a sobering through that one of the richest men in the world could not buy his health. Makes one really reconsider one's priorities.
ReplyDeleteJ.C.
Join me in the Trick or Treat Spooktacular! Read and review, and you could help make the Grand Prize a brand new Kindle Touch?
Hi there JC Martin@ Welcome as my latest follower and thanks for the comment, certainly does make you think. Please forgive me if I do not join in this time as this is the last time I will be blogging any new reviews until November, off travelling. Another time though.
ReplyDeleteSteve Jobs was an amazing human being . . . . that the world desparately needs more of. Thank you for your sweet, kind comments. I'm slowly getting back to blogging. I'm trying to catch up with my favorite bloggers who are on my "Daily Visits" category on my reader! You are always one of my most favorites. Enjoy your holiday/time off! Hugs, Roz
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, I am so impressed by the amount of reading you do. Your reviews are excellent. I will pop back at another time to look at some of your older reviews. Hope you are having a wonderful time. Love Linda x
ReplyDeleteRoz@ How lovely to find a comment from you waiting here on my return. I am happy to hear you are taking small steps back into the blogging world.
ReplyDeleteFlowersonmytable@ I have always been an avid reader and always have a book on the go. Thanks for your praise, it is encouraging.