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Summers in Supino

Becoming Italian: A Memoir

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

“A vivid memoir” of a time spent in Supino, Italy “quickly transports readers into the charm and richness of village life . . . a story of love and family.” (Publishers Weekly)
 
Every summer Maria and her husband, Bob, went to their little house in the Italian village of Supino, and every year it was a new adventure. Only in Supino would you find a pizzeria in a sheep pasture, a seafood restaurant hidden in the woods, or an electrical cord draped from one balcony to the next so neighbours could share power. In Supino, they celebrate the first figs of the season; host watermelon, azalea, and artichoke festivals; and take pleasure in the magical view of the stars in the summer sky.
 
Written with humour and heart, Summers in Supino is Maria Coletta McLean’s memoir of these summers with Bob, as she becomes accustomed to the town her father grew up in and the peculiarities of the people who live there. Cousin Guido argues with their neighbour over who can plant a grapevine and therefore reap the harvest. Villagers debate whether one neighbour can trade the installation of some terra cotta tiles and the use of a pizza oven (he has yet to build) for the land beneath Bob and Maria’s patio. And as Maria comes to understand her connection to this wonderful place, Bob proposes they open a coffee bar on the piazza.
 
Full of wonderfully vivid stories of Italy, Summers in Supino also explores loss, grief, and the restorative power of community.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 24, 2013
      Colletta McLean writes a vivid memoir of holidays she and her husband Bob spent in the small village of Supino, Italy (also featured in her previous memoir My Father Came From Italy). She quickly transports readers into the charm and richness of village life â terra cotta rooftops, hills of beech trees and vineyards, cascading azaleas, friendly neighbors, bountiful gardens, and village shops. Readers can vicariously breakfast at Bar Italia with cappuccinos and cornettos, collect fresh bread and groceries from the street market, attend festivals in the surrounding villages, dine on local specialties, and experience the intricacies and eccentricities of Supinese life. As Bob and Maria's love for the place and the people grows, they begin to dream of living half of each year there. Bob decides to leave his business in Toronto in order to open his own café in Supino. That dream is scuttled when he is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, but the tragic turn also reveals how the summer visitors have become citizens. Bob is mourned as a "son of Supino." The idyll becomes a story of love and family. As a Supinese friend tells Maria, âWe are with you, ogni momento, ogni giorno, every moment, every day." Agent: Carolyn Swayze (Apr.) U.S. Distribution: Independent Publishers Group.

    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2013

      Canadian writer McLean continues the charming tales of her annual vacations to Italy she began in My Father Came from Italy. Rural Supino, southeast of Rome, is full of the down-to-earth characters and humorous events readers have come to expect in travel memoirs, and McLean and her husband, Bob, find themselves both overwhelmed and enchanted by their Italian neighbors. Plans to take a day trip, remodel their tiny patio, or even dine are routinely upended by their friends. As the newcomers learn to appreciate Supinese ways, they find themselves becoming more Italian in their outlook and habits. Wanting to spend more than a few weeks each year in Supino, Bob makes plans to open his own coffee bar in the town square. VERDICT McLean's story begins and ends with personal loss, but the sadness is balanced with much optimism. Her moving story, full of fondness for the Supinese and love for her family, is a good choice for readers who share a longing to connect with their ancestral homes.--Linda M. Kaufmann, Massachusetts Coll. of Liberal Arts Lib., North Adams

      Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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