Mezza Italiana - A Great Read on Falling in Love with Italy

Mezza Italiana - Zoe Boccabella 

There were many years after I wrote Italian Joy that I couldn't pick up a memoir on Italy.

The years leading up to the momentous moment when my publisher gave me a book deal were the years when I devoured memoir after memoir on Italy.  I loved the joint and couldn't get enough of what everyone had to say about it.

I remember my publishers parting words when I walked out the door with my first book deal "you know the author of A Thousand Days in Venice was incredibly honest that takes courage". Those words remained with me and when I wrote Italian Joy I remember always searching for honesty even though some days putting it down on paper felt embarassing. I secretly thought no-one would ever read it!

For two years I was immersed in writing and photographing Italy for Italian Joy and when I came out the other end I couldn't pick up a book by a foreigner on Italy. It all felt too familiar.

The passage of time truly heals all things and in the past couple of years my love for Italian memoirs has resurged. It's probably due to the fact on rainy days in Paris I dream of being under the Tuscan Sun (literally) with a glass of Chianti in my hand sitting at a table surrounded by funny sounding Tuscans..

I picked up Mezza Italiana when I was home last year in Sydney and tucked it away for a rainy day in Paris. I loved this book!

Zoe Boccabella has a vastly different story to the foreigner who falls in love with Italy. She has Italian blood running through her veins as the grandaughter of Italians who immigrated from Abruzzo.  As a young girl growing up in Brisbane Australia everything Italian drives her crazy.

Zoe Boccabella in the family home in Fossa Abruzzo

It's only as a young adult and thanks to an enthusiastic 'Italy loving boyfriend' that Boccabella heads to Italy for her first trip and eventually to her grandparents natal village.

There is much to love about this book. The wonderful characters, her fabulous Italian grandfather who takes his love for all Italian traditions to Brisbane and cherishes them till he dies. Her boyfriend who becomes the poster boy for all things Italian and the people of Fossa, a village tucked away in the mountains of Abruzzo.

Zoe Boccabella's love affair is a slow burning one once she lands in Italy and something unexpected becomes a passion, the Boccabella's family home. It's as much about falling in love with a house as it is with falling in love with Italy.

I can highly recommnend Mezza Italiana on a cold day when you are dreaming of Italy..

Carla xx

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