Behind the famous seafront towns of Portofino, Sanremo and Santa Margherita, the Italian region of Liguria is home to hills and villages with a gentle rhythm far from the madding crowds. And it is here that Stella, holidaying with her new fiancé and Amy, just out of university and a little lost after the death of her grandpa, cross paths in The Italian Village in the Hills.
The book is set in the present but it draws on wartime events that still reverberate today. In order to fictionalise this history I decided to create Leto, a place ‘that held its past close, where alliances and feuds could endure for generations. Like the bitterness between Stella’s family and Gino’s.’
For inspiration I travelled to Ceriana one of Liguria’s prettiest villages, and like Amy I found friendly locals who greeted me as I walked past, a huge church dominating the main piazza where the village brass band played and ‘front doors half hidden beneath the steps to the neighbouring property and doorways that seemed to lead into rocky walls.’ Like Stella I passed under ‘an ancient stone archway acting like a picture frame for the view across the terracotta roof tiles to the hills beyond,’ and climbed crumbling steps to an old chapel as yellow butterflies flitted past. And – all in the name of research – sampled trofie pasta coated in bright green pesto, local sparkling wine and jam filled gobeletti.
