Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Sicily, 1977.
Ten-year-old Lily and family arrive for their annual summer holiday in Sicily. Adopted as a toddler, Lily's childhood has been idyllic. But a chance encounter with a local woman on the beach changes everything...
10 years later...
Ever since that fateful summer Lily's picture-perfect life, and that of her family, has been in turmoil. The secrets of the baking hot shores of Sicily are calling her back, and Lily knows that the answers she has been so desperately seeking can only be found if she returns to her beloved island once more...
Reviewed by Louise Wykes
When the past comes to your door, what can you do except let it in?Gina's life is good. She is independent. She loves her adopted home in Italy and she is passionate about her work as a photographer. Maybe her lover isn't all she might hope and her beautiful apartment is in need of repair, but you can't have everything all the time. And anyway, she's all wrapped up in her latest artistic project, shots of the young men who arrive in Italy as refugees, destitute and vulnerable.Until one day, Sasha, a lonely British teenager at summer school, crosses Gina's path, and unwittingly sets her world spinning. Sasha's innocent romance creates complications neither of them could have imagined, leading Gina to wonder, can she come to terms with her past?
Today it's the final leg of the blog tour for Penny Feeny's new book, The Apartment in Rome which is published today by Tindal Street Press. Happy publication day Penny, I hope you're celebrating in style...
I'm delighted to be able to welcome her to my blog for a bit of a chat about where the inspiration for the book came from, her writing process, her inspiration for the book, her writing process and much more, so I'll hand you over to to Penny.
Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book?
My main character, Gina, had a rootless upbringing, but has been settled in Rome for 20 years. She’s a model turned photographer and a thoroughly independent woman in search of fulfilment as well as security. She’s having to fight to keep the tenancy of her apartment, but her work is on the cusp of real success – until a chance encounter reawakens the past and threatens to jeopardise everything she’s struggled to achieve. Sasha, the lonely British teenager who stumbles into Gina’s world, doesn’t realise what havoc she’s causing when she embarks on an innocent romance. But she, too, will learn that the impact of first love never goes away.
