Synopses & Reviews
In the sumptuous tradition of Chocolat and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and already optioned for a major motion picture, comes a magical tale of romantic passion, culinary delight--and Italy.
Captain James Gould arrives in wartime Naples assigned to discourage marriages between British soldiers and their gorgeous Italian girlfriends. But the innocent young officer is soon distracted by an intoxicating young widow who knows her way around a kitchen...Livia Pertini is creating feasts that stun the senses with their succulence--ruby-colored San Marzana tomatoes, glistening anchovies, and delectable new potatoes encrusted with the black volcanic earth of of Campania--and James is about to learn that his heart may rank higher than his orders. For romance can be born of the sweet and spicy passions of food and love--and time spent in the kitchen can be as joyful and exciting as the banquet of life itself
From the Hardcover edition.
Review
"Capella's vividly sensuous command of the arts of both food and romance will attract readers." Booklist
Review
"Capella again mingles 'amore' with 'alimenti' in this tale of a British officer who develops an appetite for all things Italian." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Twenty-two-year-old James Gould arrives in Occupied Naples in 1943, where his duties include dissuading Allied soldiers from marrying their beautiful Italian girlfriends, and his diet includes little more than spam fritters and warmed-up rations.
The girls of Naples, however, soon arrange for a beautiful young country girl to join his staff as a cook. Under the twin influences of Italian food and Italian passion, James has only just realised that his heart is more important than his orders, when an eruption of Vesuvius sets in motion a series of epic events that will change their lives for ever.