Bookworm Press

Again, I traveled to research the second book in The Wine Lover’s Daughter series, Finding Angelo. This time, the journey in the novel began in Paso Robles, California, the home and vineyard of Sofia and Nicholas Segantino. Sofia and Nicholas traveled to New York City for a late honeymoon. From there, Sofia embarked on an adventurous and dangerous trip to Tuscany and the Piedmont region in Italy in search of her missing great uncle, Angelo, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances twenty years ago.

The goal of my research was again to capture the unique features of the locals and the people, the vineyards of the Central Coast of California, the bustling life of New York City and Staten Island, and the diverse and fascinating countryside of Tuscany and the Piedmont region of Italy.

Let’s take a trip together through my novel, Finding Angelo (The Wine Lover’s Daughter, Book 2). Enjoy the journey from the convenience of your home. Click on the following link:

Picture Tour – Finding Angelo

I began writing my latest novel, Letter from a Cave, back in 2019 before the pandemic. The action takes place in Italy and in Switzerland in an area near the Italian/Swiss border I was unfamiliar with and which I intended to visit. Well, Covid and the related travel restrictions upended those plans.

Fortunately, I have a good friend in Switzerland, Silvia Delorenzi, who was familiar with that part of the canton Grisons, the so-called Hinterrhein Valley. Thanks to her invaluable comments and corrections, I managed to finish the manuscript from afar.

In September 2022, together with Silvia and her husband, Curzio, I was finally able to visit the villages of Andeer and Splügen, the Splügenpass and the San Bernardino Pass. We spent some time walking through the quaint villages, exploring the beautiful landscape, and having a delicious lunch at the restaurant Weisses Kreuz (White Cross), which also appears in my novel. Our visit confirmed most of the information and fortunately, I had to make just a few adjustments. Thank you again, Silvia and Curzio, for your help!

Here are a few pictures and a blurb of Letter from a Cave:

Andreas, a Swiss sculptor and stonemason, lost his wife in an accident three years ago. Still grieving, he seeks solace on long hikes in the Swiss mountains. Overcome by a thunderstorm one evening, he takes shelter in a cave where he finds an old, abandoned backpack underneath rocks and stones. Hidden in it are an Italian passport, a photo of a young woman, an envelope with a letter inside dated December 1943, written by a Jewish refugee during the Second World War to his young, pregnant wife in Italy.

Overwhelmed and inspired by the longing and love expressed in the letter, Andreas is determined to find out what happened to the man, why he hadn’t sent the letter, and whether his wife, Bella, and her family in Italy are still alive after all these years. Together with Luisa, his friend and owner of a vineyard in Tuscany, he sets out on a quest through Italy to find any signs of Bella or her family. During their search, they meet both helpful people and those who try to prevent them, even by force, from digging into a past filled with heroism but also with cruelty and betrayal.

Will the quest to find Bella and her family bring closure for them as well as for Andreas, or will it cause more turmoil and heartache?

The village of Splügen and the surrounding area. Splügenpass is the name of the mountain and the road across it.

Typical houses of the area, lovingly decorated with art works and lots of flowers

History in action: Via Spluga, now a beloved hiking path, was the main link between the canton Grisons in Switzerland and towns and villages in Italy for many centuries. It was used by pack drivers and tradesmen who crossed the Alps to transport their goods (and ideas) from North to South. It begins in the town of Thusis and leads through the breathtaking Viamala Gorge, the Roffla Gorge, the villages of Andeer and Splügen among others all the way to the top of the Spügenpass and down to Isola and Chiavenna in Italy.

Via Spluga is also the favorite hiking path for Andreas, the protagonist in Letter from a Cave, where he finds the mysterious letter that changes his life.

And here we are in the village of Andeer, the residence of Andreas and Emilia, his youngest daughter, who is a veterinarian.

The decorations in the photo above and below are typical carvings on many of the houses in the canton Grisons (or Graubünden in German). The technique is called Sgraffito. The name comes from the Italian word sgraffiare or graffiare, meaning “scratch” or “scratching,” a form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color. It’s typically done in plaster or stucco on walls or on ceramics before firing.

An old wooden bridge over the Rhein river; this part of the river is called the “Hinterrhein.”

Andeer is also home to a well-known mineral bath, a perfect place to soothe sore muscles after a long hike in the beautiful surrounding mountains.

Below is the restaurant Weisses Kreuz (White Cross), which also features in the novel. It’s a favorite hang-out for Andreas and his family.

And of course, my friends and I had to try their excellent cuisine and wines!

I ordered one of Andreas’ favorites–Cordon Bleu with French Fries and Salad.

It was excellent!

This journey through the landscape and villages featured in my new novel was both instructive and enjoyable. Thank you Silvia and Curzio for your support.

The novel just came back from my fabulous and meticulous editor, Linda Cassidy Lewis. That means back to work for me, so that Letter from a Cave can finally be finished and, eventually, published. I’ll keep you posted!

Dear Loyal Readers,

I have great news for those of you who still like to hold a “real” book–made of reap paper and ink and with a beautiful glossy cover–in their hands. The paperback version of Finding Angelo is now available on Amazon.

Link: Paperback Finding Angelo

As a reminder, here is the blurb again:
 
A hidden diary and a crumpled envelope, postmarked in Italy, are the only clues Martin Segantino has to what happened to his younger brother Angelo, the black sheep of the family, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances twenty years ago. When the police find the skeleton of Angelo’s close friend buried in one of the fields on the Segantino vineyards, the hunt for Angelo begins. Is he the killer or is he himself a victim? Sofia Segantino, great-niece of Angelo by marriage, embarks on her own search for the missing man. On her trip through the Piedmont region of Italy, she uncovers clues of Angelo’s whereabouts, which puts her in grave danger. The local gangsters are equally interested in the elusive Angelo and are ready to do whatever it takes to find him. Will Sofia be able to outsmart them?

Part family drama, part suspense, Finding Angelo takes the reader on a thrilling journey from California via Chicago and New York to Italy.

Happy Reading, my Fellow Bookworms!

Dear Friends and Bookworms,

For those of you who are not on my mailing list, here is an exciting announcement. By the way, getting on my mailing list and being informed about new books and important events in my writing career is easy. I promise, I won’t fill up your inbox. Just click on Mailing List below and fill out the short form:

Day 3: Castello di Pavone in Ivrea, Italy (Piedmont). This is unique castle dates back to Medieval times. It is now a hotel/restaurant, where we celebrated an important birthday of my nephew a couple of years ago. The castle is privately owned by a family who lovingly renovated it while leaving the original intact as much as possible. Wonderful place! Find out more here: http://www.castellodipavone.com/en

To be continued.

THE ITALIAN SISTER is published and available as ebook for the Kindle and with the free Kindle App on all eReaders. The printed version is in production.

Link to the eBook: http://myBook.to/ItalianSister

Standing at her father’s grave in California, Sofia Laverne mourns his untimely death. Henry had not only been a loving parent but Sofia’s best friend and mentor. Imagine her shock and grief when she finds out her father had lived a double-life, that she has a ten-year younger sister and inherited a vineyard in Tuscany. Torn between anger about his betrayal, grief for her loss, and hopeful anticipation, Sofia packs her bags and takes off for Italy to meet fourteen-year old Julietta. Arriving in the small hill town of Vignaverde, she is greeted by olive groves, neat rows of grape vines, and picturesque houses. Some of the inhabitants of this beautiful estate are, unfortunately, less welcoming and resent her intrusion into the family business. Soon, strange occurrences begin to frighten Sofia. When a suspicious accident lands her in the hospital, Sofia fears for her life.

Part family drama, part romantic suspense, THE ITALIAN SISTER takes us on a wild journey from California to Tuscany and provides glimpses into the exciting world of winemaking.

As a special introductory offer, the Kindle ebook is available for 99 cents from August 4 to and including August 10. So get with it and grab it while the discount lasts.

A post about the research into grapes and winemaking in Tuscany, Switzerland as well as California with lots of great pictures is on Lisette Brodey’s wonderful Writers Castle blog. Research for this novel was a truly pleasurable (tasting wine!) and exciting adventure. Click on the link, sit back, and enjoy:
http://lisettebrodey.com/category/guest-blogs-2/

A friend of mine sent me this and it made me realize once again that art and music are most powerful when they happen spontaneously among everyday people, not locked away in museums and concert halls.

I love the reaction of the children!

Enjoy!

This is the second part of the picture journey through my novels. Love of a Stonemason is the sequel to An Uncommon Family. Since both my novels take place in different countries, I thought it would be fun for readers (both past and prospective) to see some of the places which inspired me and made their way into my books.

More information about the first book, An Uncommon Family, as well as the pictures to it, you can find here.

Blurb for Love of a Stonemason:

The young painter, Karla Bocelli, is all too familiar with loss. When she was five years old, her mother died in a car crash in the south of Switzerland. Her Peruvian father lives at the other end of the world, and a year ago, her aunt and guardian passed away. Now, at age twenty-four, Karla almost gets hit by a speeding car. As if this wasn’t fateful enough, Andreas, the driver, turns out to be a sculptor and carver of tombstones. In spite of his profession, Andreas is anything but morbid. Quick-tempered and intense, he exudes a rough-and-tumble energy. After a tumultuous start of their relationship, Karla comes to see in Andreas the “rock in her life,” the perfect antidote to her fears of abandonment and bouts of depression. Andreas, however, wrestles with his own ghosts: an alcoholic father who abused him as a child and his own fits of anger. Together, the two artists must confront the demons that haunt them.

Love of a Stonemason is the story about the struggle of two artists with their past, their family, their creativity, and their love for each other. It takes the reader on a journey full of sights, smells, tastes, and sounds from the south of Switzerland to Italy and the Peruvian Andes.

And now, sit back, relax and enjoy:

Love of a Stonemason – a journey in pictures

I enjoy an author that can use description to carry me away and place me in locations that I can enjoy within my mind’s eye. Christa Polkinhorn does just that in Love of a Stonemason. From Switzerland to Italy to Peru, I enjoyed vistas I will never see; felt breezes across lakes and through valleys I will never personally feel; was surrounded by local scents from exotic dishes and fields of flowers that I will never smell.

The title of her book first intrigued me as my grandfather was a stonemason and her Andreas brought back many memories of watching the way ‘Grampa’ could press his will upon a piece of granite.

Her Karla is an artist and I understood her challenges when approaching a blank canvas. Once upon a time I painted and Christa tweaked my mind with the scent of turpentine and the feel of paint on the brush as it made magic on the easel.

But more than a romance between creative minds, this story digs deep into the early trauma of each and follows their struggle in resolving their individual demons.

This would be the perfect book to tuck in your suitcase or add to your kindle for that “myself” time this summer. Pick your own special spot – perhaps in the shade of a maple tree beside a secluded cove at the lake. Ah, sounds of waves lapping gently on the shore, glass of wine and Love of a Stonemason.

Elizabeth Egerton Wilder
Author of The Spruce Gum Box