Notes from a Beginner
In 2016 I made the decision to stop teaching and translating and to work with my husband, who is a builder. My ‘career move’ raised a few eyebrows as it was an unusual one for a lady in her forties. However, my reason for swapping the classroom for the building site was not the love of laying patios and repairing walls, but that doing a manual job left my head clear for writing. At the time I was in the throes of writing Paradiso. I didn't have a publishing deal; but what I did have was a good idea for a novel and plenty of optimism. It was a risk, but one I was determined would pay off.
Juggling my writing and my day job wasn't always easy. It involved getting up early to fit an hour or two of writing and research in before work; squeezing in a bit more after work; arranging my weekends around writing. Although my physical energy might have flagged occasionally, my drive to write never did.
When Silvertail Books showed interest in what was still only an incomplete draft of Paradiso, my determination grew and after what felt like an extraordinarily long gestation period, Paradiso was born. Hooray! I had finished writing my first proper novel and I had an interested publisher. Maybe quitting the classroom hadn’t been so crazy after all.
In reality, what I had finished was a lengthy first draft. Paradiso was long – very, very long; the length of three novels. No wonder it had taken so much time to write it.
Amongst other things, I had made the rookie error of including far too much of the historical research I had undertaken in the novel. Paradiso was bloated with historical facts and details which slowed down the story. If it was ever to make it to publication, something had to be done to deal with its serious weight problem.
It was time to forget about writers’ ego, sentimental attachment to particular passages, chapters and characters. Out went the unnecessary plot complications. Out went the superfluous characters. Out went the exhaustive descriptions of post-war agricultural processes and the fascinating accounts of artisan cheese-making. Learning to use historical research to support and enrich the story, as opposed to obscuring it, was a very valuable lesson.
Hooray, I thought once again as I submitted the new, svelte version. I’ll be a published author by the end of the month and I can get started on my next novel. I was looking forward to that very much. I needed something fresh to work on. Wrong again.
Paradiso was still too long. What more could I possibly edit out without cutting the story short, or losing more characters, or lessening its emotional impact? The advice was, divide it into two novels. At first I was blindsided. What?! How would that work? It would be like throwing a grenade into my precious, meticulously-crafted work and then somehow trying to piece it back together as two novels which would not only need to work together, but also stand alone as separate stories. A certain amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued; but eventually I conceded that if division was what Paradiso needed, it would have to be done. I pulled out the pin and lobbed the grenade.
Thanks to the sound advice, patience and solicitude of Humfrey Hunter at Silvertail Books two novels emerged. In practice, the division hadn’t been as difficult, or as painful, as I had expected. It felt as though that lengthy first draft had always destined to be two books.
Paradiso and its sequel, Return to Paradiso, are the story of Graziella Ponti, an ordinary country girl living through extraordinary times in the little rural village of Pieve Santa Clara in Lombardy. Italy is emerging from the turmoil of WW2 and the grip of Fascist dictatorship. Everything is transforming economically, socially and politically. Women’s roles in society are changing. Even the grip of the Catholic Church is loosening. Graziella's story is one of courage, love, loss, triumphs and tragedies from her childhood to early adulthood. Although it is a work of fiction, many of the anecdotes and experiences contained within it are based on true events told to me by my Italian grandparents.
Now, as Paradiso and Return to Paradiso make their way into the world and into the hands, the heads and hopefully also the hearts of readers, all I can do is wish them well on their journey. Good luck, break a leg, or as my Italian grandfather would have said: In bocca all’lupo!
Paradiso by Francesca Scanacapra
Though they are not rich and life is full of challenges, they are content and safe, surrounded by the tightly-knit community of Pieve Santa Clara.
But when the shadow of World War Two falls across the village with the arrival of Nazi soldiers, nothing in young Graziella’s life will ever be the same again.
Paradiso is Graziella’s story. It charts her loves, losses and triumphs as she grows up in post-war Italy, a country in transformation, freed from the shackles of dictatorship yet still gripped by the restraints of the Catholic church.
Paradiso is inspired by true stories told to Francesca Scanacapra by her Italian family and set in locations where she spent much of her childhood. It is a deeply affecting novel which sheds light on the complexity and trauma of Italy’s past and weaves it into the epic tale of an ordinary woman compelled to live in extraordinary times.
This stunning historical read is perfect for fans of Dinah Jeffries, Rhys Bowen, Victoria Hislop, Angela Petch and Heather Morris.
Francesca Scanacapra was born in Italy to an English mother and Italian father, and her childhood was spent living between England and Italy. Her adult life has been somewhat nomadic and she has pursued an eclectic mixture of career paths, including working as a technical translator between Italian, English, Spanish and French, a gym owner in Spain, an estate agent in France, a property developer in France and Senegal, and a teacher. Francesca lives in Dorset and currently works as a builder with her husband. She has two children.
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