Welcome
I once asked an architect turned chef turned restauranteur in Florence about the passion that had changed her life.
“We do not choose our passion, signora,” she replied. “Passion chooses us.”
I understood. Italy chose me.
More than three decades ago, shivering in a frigid Swiss rail station, I impetuously switched trains and headed south to a sun-kissed country I’d never visited. I had no reservations, no itinerary, no inkling of what I might discover. The last thing I expected was to fall in love, but fall I did.
Returning to Italy year after year, I became appassionata, a word that dates back to the fourteenth century and translates as “taken by passion.” I didn’t fight this sweet seduction. I indulged it, embraced it, delighted in it. Over time a passion for Italy transformed my life and inspired the three books shown below.
This website celebrates Italy’s passions—for language, history, traditions, art, music, food, wine, fashion and film. I hope you visit often. In the coming months I will be debuting a new blog, “A Passion for Italy,” and posting the latest news on my upcoming books.
New Book
Coming April 2019
New York Times
Best-Seller
An Amazon “best book of the year”
Translated into six languages