Dear Reader,
It’s my pleasure to introduce today’s guest author Lorenzo Carcaterra, a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many titles including: Sleepers, Chasers, Midnight Angels, The Wolf, and more. Lorenzo is also a former writer/producer for Law & Order and has written for National Geographic Traveler, and The New York Times Magazine. He lives in New York City with Gus, his Olde English Bulldogge.
Welcome Lorenzo to the book club and enter to win one of five copies of his newly released novel, Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride. The story is set on the island of Ischia, in the Gulf of Naples, where Lorenzo spent summers as a youth.
To enter, simply send an email with your shipping address to: AtRandom@randomhouse.com
ISCHIA: ISLAND OF MEMORIES
I was 14 the first time I saw Ischia. It was 1969 and my parents thought I should spend a summer with relatives and friends, on an island 18 miles off the coast of Naples.
I had never talked to these friends or relatives other than the times their names were mentioned around the table or when I would glimpse at black and white photos in an album.
I traveled alone on a trip that seemed to take forever. But, there, in the final minutes of the journey, on the back of a boat, glimpsing the mouth of the harbor, I knew I found my place.
During that first summer and others that followed, I grew to love the faces I had seen in the pages of that album. Many have long since died, but their memory lives in my mind and heart. None stronger than that of my grandmother, Nonna Maria.
I spent seven summers in her company and she watched me grow from unruly teenager into a young man filled with hope and ambition. She paved the way to a happier life.
I got to know the island of Ischia.
Mornings filled with the aroma of baked bread and pastries and smell of the sea; walking before sun-up with my aunts, heading to the port, waiting as fisherman tossed their catch on the pier and listened to the bartering that began. Above me, women sang Neapolitan ballads as they hung fresh-washed clothes. I would join friends and cousins and swim for hours, then sit under the shade of an umbrella and talk about a future we envisioned. Those friendships have lasted decades and that first hint of love, looking in the eyes of a young girl and losing my heart, has stayed with me to this day.
Evenings were filled with laughter as we went to movies, shared pizza, took walks along the Lido, the Bay of Naples close enough to touch.
There was magic to the island. Stunning beaches, thermal spas, fresh fruits, vegetables and fish made into unforgettable meals, the first taste of cold mountain-made wine. The beauty of Ischia grows stronger with time.
I go back every year and visit favorite places--Bar Calise to listen to the music of Aldo Poli; sit on the stone bench in front of Saint Peter's, where I spent evenings alongside Nonna Maria, soak in her words of wisdom; take a boat tour around the island; visit the D'Ambra Vineyard with friend and co-owner, Sara, standing on the top of the island, in front of us the majestic vista of the bay.
I belong to Ischia. Have since that afternoon on a crowded boat when I first laid eyes on the island. I feel now, at 67, same as I felt at 14.
Forever in love.
-- Lorenzo Carcaterra
To enter the book drawing,, simply send an email with your shipping address to: AtRandom@randomhouse.com
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is People from Bloomington by Budi Darma. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.
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