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.
Recipe For Life by Nicky Pellegrino
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.
Image credit: New Zealand Woman's Weekly.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’
Uploaded by AlisonHachette on May 4, 2010
Uploaded by orionbooks on Mar 18, 2010
Nicky Pellegrino - Official Author Website
Goodreads Profile
YouTube - Nicky Pellegrino
I also post these ‘Italy in Books’ reviews on my other blog
LindyLouMac's Book Reviews
I read this book and loved it. Thanks for the tribute to Steve Jobs. I am sitting her commenting on my iPad and read the book on my iPad.
ReplyDeleteCarol
Thanks for the tribute to Steve Jobs.A very important person for all the world.
ReplyDeleteMonica
Thank you for stopping by! I too feel the loss of Steve Jobs, but what wisdom he left us with. Now it is up to us to use it. What a thorough book review, I'm impressed!
ReplyDeleteGreat book review, I must get a copy.
ReplyDeleteGreat tribute to a wonderful family man who sadly has left us much too soon. RIP.
Love Jackie in Surrey, UK.x
An interesting sounding book. I am sure that growing vegetables in Italy is more rewarding than growing them in Cheshire! Enjoy your visit to your daughter.
ReplyDeleteWhere would we all be without Steve Jobs?
Thank you so much, Linda, for sharing this now. I have used Apple products every single day for over 20 years and have been grateful every one of those days for the amazing technology that has contributed immeasurably to me having the career I have. Very thoughtful of you. I hope the trip is wonderful! – g
ReplyDeleteHis life influenced a LOT of people through his innovations. His death touched even more as we became aware of his philosophy for living through the videos and articles commemorating this extra-ordinary individuals life.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your post considering Sue cooked up a storm tonight - I'll post it Monday - meanwhile, I just have to wash up.
ReplyDeleteShe's such a messey cook. Hope you are LLM and that you have a mild winter.
Leon
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ReplyDeleteHave a nice and happy weekend****
Patrizio = HOT.
ReplyDeleteI am taking notes and I will look for this book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with us.