by Angela Petch
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Angela Petch
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Acknowledgements
How was I inspired to write this story set in Italy against a brutal but significant Second World War campaign, one which is often overlooked? There are many reasons. My father worked in Rome for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission when I was seven years old. We lived there for six years during the 1960s, and he took us to visit many of the beautiful war cemeteries. I remember feeling awestruck even at that tender age, and now that I understand more, I feel both humbled and horrified by the sacrifices made by so many – and not only by the armed forces. We should not forget the roles ordinary people played.
Rupert Brooke was one of my mother’s favourite poets. Admittedly, ‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’ was written before the First World War, but the lines, heavy with homesickness, remind me of young men and women on all sides, who must have pined for normality during their terror-filled days away from their home countries.
Say, is there Beauty yet to find?
And Certainty? and Quiet kind?
Deep meadows yet, for to forget
The lies, and truths, and pain?… oh! yet
Stands the Church clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea?
Ten years ago, I met an elderly gentleman on one of my walks in the Tuscan countryside where I live. While he pruned an apple tree, we passed the time of day. Halfway through our friendly conversation in Italian, to my utter surprise Bruno began to talk in English. He told me he had been a prisoner of war in Nottingham, and had stayed in England for almost four unforgettable years. He was barely twenty then, and had never been away from this country village.
Fifty years ago, I stayed with my German penfriend in Wesel. Marianne’s father was the Burgemeister (mayor), and proudly showed me around. He constantly mentioned the Second World War during my visit, and I was embarrassed, eventually asking him to change the subject. I told him, naively, ‘It’s not my fault that you are German and I am English. The war finished a long time ago.’ He was upset, and later his wife explained that as a young man he had been a conscientious objector and his parents had been imprisoned and shot because of this. The war was never going to be over for him. I have never forgotten him.
So, over time, impressions from my formative years and more recent encounters lingered in my thoughts until I tweaked them into The Tuscan Girl. My parents belonged to this generation, but they seldom talked about their war. Soon there will be nobody left of these children of the 1920s, and their memories and secrets will disappear. I felt inspired to remember these individual struggles through fiction. Some of the characters and place names in The Tuscan Girl have been changed, but most of the events are, sadly, true.
Once again, my lovely Italian mother-in-law, Giuseppina, supplied many details, as did Alvaro Tacchini and Doriano Pela, local historians and writers. There are many other people to thank. Bruno Vergni was one hundred years old on 13 January, 2020 and he inspired the character of Massimo – although I have greatly tweaked him in my imagination. The real Florian, who likes to stay at Il Mulino, helped me with German expressions, as did the author Sonja Price. Anne Marie Lomax checked my art techniques for Alba. Fulvio Pieghai at Badia Tedalda tourist office is always there for me with snippets and gems. Grazie! My friends on Facebook, Twitter and Chindi Authors are so supportive and generous. Thank you, one and all. My husband is very patient when I disappear for hours to tap away, and Ellen Gleeson and the team at Bookouture deserve a pocketful of gold stars for their quiet professional guidance. Last, but definitely not least, a heartfelt thanks to all my readers for your encouraging reviews.
Published by Bookouture in 2020
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An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
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Copyright © Angela Petch, 2020
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Angela Petch has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-83888-197-9
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.