Mareno di Piave, Italy-April 16, 2009
Serena Richardson, American writer living in Italy, has finally compiled the first year of her popular stories and published them in a book titled, “Stories from Italy, News of Mareno”. Ms. Richardson, whose stories have also appeared in anthologies and periodicals, has been posting on her life in Northern Italy for almost four years at her website www.serenutu.com. Due to popular demand, mostly from her mother Cynthia, she has converted the virtual journal into paper and ink form, a 167 page paperback, complete with charming illustrations and a full color cover.
As is natural in Italy, the book follows the change in season, from the mushroom-filled days of autumn through to the end of summer when warm, wet air is fat with the smell of grapes, grass and pigs. Filled with very real characters in a small town in the rolling hills outside of Venice, Ms Richardson, an independent Californian, tells the story of adjusting to her new life as an Italian housewife. It seemed a natural thing to write about these experiences and now, thanks to Lulu.com and a lot of editing help from her husband Luciano, her stories are now available without firing up the modem.
These tales and recipes are comical, insightful, sometimes poignant slices of Italian life told with the affectionate humor of one who is actually living it. Without leaving the house, or even turning on the computer, what better escape from too much reality could there be?
Serena Richardson currently lives with her husband Luciano in Mareno di Piave, a small town in the northern province of the Veneto. She can be contacted at her website www.serenutu.com and her book “Stories from Italy, News of Mareno” can be found at:
