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Bread, Wine & Angels
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, Runner-Up.The story of a girl in a remote village of southern Italy, considered a "barrel of wine" to be sold off quickly, lest she turn to vinegar.." . . a novel that describes the real lives of a vanished world with brilliant and down-to-earth sincerity."--Quill & Quire
293 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1997
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December 23, 2019
I did it!! I was within sight of the airport but I finished in time!
Really beautiful book, even if I was rushing through it
I read most of this in my backyard, sitting in the sunshine (and the rest in the car as I raced to finish it before I flew home!) and it was the perfect setting for a story about Italy, and so fun to read about the country through a child’s eyes. The narrator, the author as a child, is always so curious about everything she experiences and everything is a story or lesson to be learned. Even as it’s recounting her life, she’s managed to make it lively and pull out themes to draw on again and again throughout the book. One of the most interesting and engaging memoirs I’ve read.
My absolute favourite part of the book was the beginning of each chapter. They always start with an “authentic” recipe, authentic because they’re always approximate measurements and instructions based on what her family members would say, like for bread – “pull in the flour, as much as the water will take”. All the recipes that were so important to her family.
Here was my favourite quotes too, a message from her grandmother: “… life has to go on. The fields are tired, the harvest is meagre and the pests multiply. Yet, we carry on just the same. We eat, we drink and keep on going. As long as there is bread we live and keep on living. Sometimes we smile and sometimes we cry. Of course, we cry more than we smile. And then, if we are lucky, we have a good death and then we finally rest. There is no rest here and now. We sweat for the bread we eat. It gives life all right, we couldn’t live without bread, but bread demands it back.” (p. 18)
Such a heartwarming and honest story! One of my favourite reads from last year!
Really beautiful book, even if I was rushing through it
I read most of this in my backyard, sitting in the sunshine (and the rest in the car as I raced to finish it before I flew home!) and it was the perfect setting for a story about Italy, and so fun to read about the country through a child’s eyes. The narrator, the author as a child, is always so curious about everything she experiences and everything is a story or lesson to be learned. Even as it’s recounting her life, she’s managed to make it lively and pull out themes to draw on again and again throughout the book. One of the most interesting and engaging memoirs I’ve read.
My absolute favourite part of the book was the beginning of each chapter. They always start with an “authentic” recipe, authentic because they’re always approximate measurements and instructions based on what her family members would say, like for bread – “pull in the flour, as much as the water will take”. All the recipes that were so important to her family.
Here was my favourite quotes too, a message from her grandmother: “… life has to go on. The fields are tired, the harvest is meagre and the pests multiply. Yet, we carry on just the same. We eat, we drink and keep on going. As long as there is bread we live and keep on living. Sometimes we smile and sometimes we cry. Of course, we cry more than we smile. And then, if we are lucky, we have a good death and then we finally rest. There is no rest here and now. We sweat for the bread we eat. It gives life all right, we couldn’t live without bread, but bread demands it back.” (p. 18)
Such a heartwarming and honest story! One of my favourite reads from last year!
Displaying 1 of 1 review