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
Italy, 1937. In a
tiny village in rural Lombardy, Graziella Ponti is born into a loving
family.
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.
Amazon UK Amazon US
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.
