Camilla Trinchieri has translated the September 2008 MilanoNera newspaper review of the Italian version of her book The Price of Silence:
"Choosing to write a psychological novel in the form of a legal thriller, Camilla Trinchieri creates a decisively beautiful book that infuses new life in a genre that has become stale and repetitive....And the author's remarkable ability to filter emotions through a seemingly (with An-ling one can never know) "Chinese" culture and sensibility imbues the novel with a special light."
Look at the statements the reviewer made!
"decisively beautiful book"
"infuses new life in a genre that has become stale and repetitive"
"author's remarkable ability to filter emotions through a seemingly [...] "Chinese" culture and sensibility"
"imbues the novel with a special light"
Sep 16, 2008
Sep 11, 2008
Another Interview! MilanoNERA
Another Italian interview with Camilla Trinchieri was printed in the September 2008 issue of the Milan, Italy newspaper, MilanoNERA.
Visit the MilanoNERA main site.
Read the full September issue.
Read a copy of the Italian interview interview.
Here's the Italian text from the review.
New York. Inizia il processo a Emma Perotti, insegnante italoamericana di mezza eta’, accusata di aver ucciso una sua studentessa cinese, l’enigmatica An-ling. Chi fosse veramente An-ling e quale fosse il legame che la univa a Emma viene rivelato gradualmente attraverso l’alternarsi delle varie fasi del processo ai ricordi di Emma, di suo figlio adolescente Josh e del marito Tom. Scegliendo di scrivere un romanzo psicologico nelle forme del legal thriller, Camilla Trinchieri realizza un libro decisamente bello, capace di infondere vita nuova a un genere sempre piu’ stantio e ripetitivo.
L’autrice, americana, ma di origine italiana e nata a Praga, rende senza fatica le diverse sfumature dei personaggi e i loro drammi, costruendo gradualmente attorno a loro una vicenda ambigua pur nella sua semplicita’. Alla fine, come in Rashomon, la verita’ rimarra’ inconoscibile; ma, per la cultura occidentale, potrebbe anche essere sufficiente un ragionevole dubbio…
Oltre a un’avvincente vicenda processuale, il libro offer un’analisi rigorosa e senza sconti delle tensioni che dilaniano la famiglia media americana. Ogni carattere e’ delineato con precisione: Emma, tormentata da un’antica tragedia, che cerca un riscatto nella pulsione materna verso una ragazza spuntata dal nulla; il figlio, combattuto fra emozioni infantili e la scoperta adolescenziale dell’erotismo, il marito, inconsapevolmente meschino ed egoista. Ma sopra tutto svetta il personaggio di An-ling, ragazza cinese tenerissima e bugiarda, singolarmente infantile e dura, morbosamente bisognosa di affetto ma nel contempo capace di manipolare le persone ai propri fini. E la singolare capacita’ dell’autrice di filtrare le emozioni attraverso una cultura e una sensibilita’ apparentemente (con An-ling non si puo’ mai dire) “cinesi”, investe il libro di una luce speciale.
Sep 2, 2008
The Cure for the Wait
Friends around me are bemoaning the end of summer, but I’m eager to move forward, hunker down to work on something new. I gave myself a break after I shipped Finding Alice off to the Italian publisher. I did a pastel portrait of a beautiful friend, painted a new baby’s name on paper (an apple for an “a,” an eye for an “e” and so forth), water-colored flowers on notes thanking friends for delicious dinners. I even tried to play golf with disastrous results. Mostly I waited. To hear if the agent I’d queried wanted to read Alice, to hear if it was a go with the Italians. Waiting, that’s part of the job description of a writer. Wait for an agent, wait for a publisher, wait for the reviews, wait for the royalty statement. I hate it.
There’s only one cure for it—plunge into a new world of my own making. Easier said than done. Where’s the idea? I do want to write a historical, something from way back. I’ve gone so far as to order a book about the period I’m interested in, but the historical needs at least two years of research and I need to write now.
I put the research book on my night table and dug into other books--Story of a Marriage, The Maytrees, Out Stealing Horses and two dread-provoking books by Ruth Rendell. Reading makes me want to write all the more, but I still didn’t have an idea.
A few weeks ago, I met three women for our monthly lunch. An out-of-town friend of one of them joined us. Diane had rented an apartment in the city for a month from a landlord she had never met before, and when she walked into the living room she saw something that startled her. It wasn’t anything scary, just odd. We continued to chat about other things—mostly politics given the times—but my mind’s eye held on to the scene of Diane walking into a home she’d never been in before, owned by someone she’d never met and seeing…what? I can’t say because there it was—the seed of an idea.
I let it sit in a warm nook of my brain to sprout. As the days passed a few tiny leaves began to show, but it’s still pretty weak. I have a premise that involves two women, a man, changing names, an old crime. No title. No middle. No end. That’s normal for me. I like to discover as I write.
The first scene unspooled in my head in the early hours of last week. I’m only half awake at five, six o’clock in the morning, but it’s a magical time for me. The world hasn’t entered my consciousness yet. The only sounds might be from my husband’s soft breaths or the birds on our neighbors’ terrace—reassuring sounds. I keep my eyes closed and start weaving a new world.
In my fully awake hours I’ve been jotting down notes on whatever pieces of paper I find handy at the moment I need them. They’re barely legible and full of scratched out lines, but it doesn’t matter. I’m ready to take the plunge. Wish me luck.
There’s only one cure for it—plunge into a new world of my own making. Easier said than done. Where’s the idea? I do want to write a historical, something from way back. I’ve gone so far as to order a book about the period I’m interested in, but the historical needs at least two years of research and I need to write now.
I put the research book on my night table and dug into other books--Story of a Marriage, The Maytrees, Out Stealing Horses and two dread-provoking books by Ruth Rendell. Reading makes me want to write all the more, but I still didn’t have an idea.
A few weeks ago, I met three women for our monthly lunch. An out-of-town friend of one of them joined us. Diane had rented an apartment in the city for a month from a landlord she had never met before, and when she walked into the living room she saw something that startled her. It wasn’t anything scary, just odd. We continued to chat about other things—mostly politics given the times—but my mind’s eye held on to the scene of Diane walking into a home she’d never been in before, owned by someone she’d never met and seeing…what? I can’t say because there it was—the seed of an idea.
I let it sit in a warm nook of my brain to sprout. As the days passed a few tiny leaves began to show, but it’s still pretty weak. I have a premise that involves two women, a man, changing names, an old crime. No title. No middle. No end. That’s normal for me. I like to discover as I write.
The first scene unspooled in my head in the early hours of last week. I’m only half awake at five, six o’clock in the morning, but it’s a magical time for me. The world hasn’t entered my consciousness yet. The only sounds might be from my husband’s soft breaths or the birds on our neighbors’ terrace—reassuring sounds. I keep my eyes closed and start weaving a new world.
In my fully awake hours I’ve been jotting down notes on whatever pieces of paper I find handy at the moment I need them. They’re barely legible and full of scratched out lines, but it doesn’t matter. I’m ready to take the plunge. Wish me luck.
Aug 4, 2008
Camilla Trinchieri: Reflecting on Italy, Finding Alice
Camilla writes:
I’ve been home for a month, still in the glow of those wonderful two weeks in Florence and Rome to launch the Italian version of The Price of Silence. Every day I’ve wanted to write about those weeks, but first it was jet lag and then my new novel, which I thought I had finished before leaving, needed a good sweep of the broom.
This new one, Finding Alice, a fictionalized version of my mother’s life in Prague and Rome during WWII, is the story that started me writing in the first place many years ago. The story which turned into my MFA thesis at Columbia. The story that required years of research. The story into which I poured my heart. Now it’s done (unless an editor says otherwise). I’m proud of it. Last week I sent it to my Italian publisher. They had asked to read it as soon as I was finished. After treating me like a literary queen with Price, I was only too happy to have them as my first official readers.
Now that I’m waiting to hear from them, waiting to hear from an agent, (first requirement to be a writer-Patience), I console myself by traveling back to my two weeks of glory.
I’m in a whirlwind of emotions. I’m reading, speaking, breathing Italian, trying to conquer the fear that I will stumble over words during an interview, give a stupid answer to an intelligent question, simply because the Italian words don’t come to me. I end up getting lots of intelligent questions—I am being treated as a serious writer—which allows me to entertain the thought that my novel inspired them.
It’s a good thing I’ve gone over a week ahead of time. I always stay with an Italian friend when I go to Rome and we sit at her kitchen table and chat and chat and my vowels open up, my r’s trill, the vocabulary comes rolling back. When I face a room full of prospective readers in the Florence bookstore, the words come pouring out for an hour and a half. I even tear a little because I’m so happy that Price is in both of my languages. I tell them that ever since I left Rome for New York, I have felt split in half. Now I feel whole.
Between the media buzz, I reconnect with friends, family. I walk the streets of Rome and go back in time. I see the street corner with the flower vendor from whom I bought lilies once for my sister, who has since died, the restaurant where I used to gobble down pizza on Sunday nights with the man I thought was the love of my life, the palazzo that used to be the Foreign Ministry where my father worked.
But the Rome that for years stood still for me is changing. Many reference points are gone. Stores, restaurants no longer there. Life moves on even in the Eternal City. I don’t like it much. I know, letting go of the past is a good thing, but the past is where my writing heart lives. The past looms heavily in all my novels. But I do look forward to what’s ahead. A possible “it’s a go,” from the Italian publisher, a “gripping from beginning to end,” from an American agent. And maybe this time it will be something in the future that will give me an idea for my next novel.
Well, to tell the truth, I’ve been thinking of a historical, something from way back, say, 4000 B.C.
I almost forgot- during my visit to Florence I was asked by the head of The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai to teach six creative writing classes the last two weeks of November. Turkeys are readily available, but I’ve already asked my friend and translator, Erika, to scout out where we’ll be able to buy sweet potatoes. I’ll bring the marshmallows.
Why do I need a translator if I’m boasting that I was spewing out Italian with no trouble at all? Well, the only Italian school I went to was kindergarten with the nuns. About the only Italian writing I could manage is a book for two year-olds. As for speaking, if you shake your hands around a lot with a smile you can get away with murder.
I’ve been home for a month, still in the glow of those wonderful two weeks in Florence and Rome to launch the Italian version of The Price of Silence. Every day I’ve wanted to write about those weeks, but first it was jet lag and then my new novel, which I thought I had finished before leaving, needed a good sweep of the broom.
This new one, Finding Alice, a fictionalized version of my mother’s life in Prague and Rome during WWII, is the story that started me writing in the first place many years ago. The story which turned into my MFA thesis at Columbia. The story that required years of research. The story into which I poured my heart. Now it’s done (unless an editor says otherwise). I’m proud of it. Last week I sent it to my Italian publisher. They had asked to read it as soon as I was finished. After treating me like a literary queen with Price, I was only too happy to have them as my first official readers.
Now that I’m waiting to hear from them, waiting to hear from an agent, (first requirement to be a writer-Patience), I console myself by traveling back to my two weeks of glory.
I’m in a whirlwind of emotions. I’m reading, speaking, breathing Italian, trying to conquer the fear that I will stumble over words during an interview, give a stupid answer to an intelligent question, simply because the Italian words don’t come to me. I end up getting lots of intelligent questions—I am being treated as a serious writer—which allows me to entertain the thought that my novel inspired them.
It’s a good thing I’ve gone over a week ahead of time. I always stay with an Italian friend when I go to Rome and we sit at her kitchen table and chat and chat and my vowels open up, my r’s trill, the vocabulary comes rolling back. When I face a room full of prospective readers in the Florence bookstore, the words come pouring out for an hour and a half. I even tear a little because I’m so happy that Price is in both of my languages. I tell them that ever since I left Rome for New York, I have felt split in half. Now I feel whole.
Between the media buzz, I reconnect with friends, family. I walk the streets of Rome and go back in time. I see the street corner with the flower vendor from whom I bought lilies once for my sister, who has since died, the restaurant where I used to gobble down pizza on Sunday nights with the man I thought was the love of my life, the palazzo that used to be the Foreign Ministry where my father worked.
But the Rome that for years stood still for me is changing. Many reference points are gone. Stores, restaurants no longer there. Life moves on even in the Eternal City. I don’t like it much. I know, letting go of the past is a good thing, but the past is where my writing heart lives. The past looms heavily in all my novels. But I do look forward to what’s ahead. A possible “it’s a go,” from the Italian publisher, a “gripping from beginning to end,” from an American agent. And maybe this time it will be something in the future that will give me an idea for my next novel.
Well, to tell the truth, I’ve been thinking of a historical, something from way back, say, 4000 B.C.
I almost forgot- during my visit to Florence I was asked by the head of The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai to teach six creative writing classes the last two weeks of November. Turkeys are readily available, but I’ve already asked my friend and translator, Erika, to scout out where we’ll be able to buy sweet potatoes. I’ll bring the marshmallows.
Why do I need a translator if I’m boasting that I was spewing out Italian with no trouble at all? Well, the only Italian school I went to was kindergarten with the nuns. About the only Italian writing I could manage is a book for two year-olds. As for speaking, if you shake your hands around a lot with a smile you can get away with murder.
Jul 14, 2008
Jul 13, 2008
Categories for Camilla Trinchieri's Il prezzo del silenzio
Camilla Trinchieri's The Price of Silence, and its Italian translation, Il prezzo del silenzio get categorized in a variety of ways. Knowing that it doesn't fit neatly, and solely, in one kind of literary category is valuable if you're searching for reviews on the internet, or looking for a copy of the book in a store.
The Price of Silence has been categorized in these ways:
psychological thriller, mystery, murder, literary, literature, suspense
Il prezzo del silenzio has been categorized as:
romanzo, romanzi stranieri, romanzi contemporanei, narrativa straniera, narrativa contemporanea, giallo (gialli), letteratura straniera, letteratura statunitense, romanzo giallo
The Price of Silence has been categorized in these ways:
psychological thriller, mystery, murder, literary, literature, suspense
Il prezzo del silenzio has been categorized as:
romanzo, romanzi stranieri, romanzi contemporanei, narrativa straniera, narrativa contemporanea, giallo (gialli), letteratura straniera, letteratura statunitense, romanzo giallo
Jul 8, 2008
Publicity Comes in Surprising Ways
In researching reviews of Camilla Trinchieri's books in English and Italian, one story kept surfacing, over and over and over: the story about an overdue library book, Camilla Trinchieri's The Price of Silence. The woman who borrowed the book was an avid reader, and died with the book still in her possession. When the book was returned overdue, the library apparently insisted that the 50 cent charge be paid.
This story has resurfaced in blog after blog in multiple languages. Can you believe how many!
Impromptu Librarian
Fox News
CBS11 TV - Dallas
ABC Local - Philly
Wilx.com News 10 - Michigan
The Final Taxi
an Ebay Blog
WayOdd.com
clipmarks
Fly the World blog
Free Republic
SimpleBrowser
Unbelievable Facts
WaarMaarRaar - Netherlands
Knurps - NL
Ron'sLog
StudentStyle - NL
ENTRESSEIO - Brazil
Noticias.Terra.com - Brazil
Topix.com - from Associated Press
The Brea Canyon Monument
Common Sense Logic
Digital Journal 549 views, 13 comments
The Pakistan Daily Times
CaptainDramaticsMom Blog
MadConomist
SP Times of Florida
Metro.co.uk under Weird
Right-Mind from Idaho
Jobsworth at Guy-Sports.com
NieuwsEnzo.info German?
The Blogs at Trentonian
UPI.com Watercooler Stories
Inthekut Blog
Bally Blog - Anything and Everything
I'm unusual.com
MyPNW.com from the Pacific North West, reprinted the article and cited the original as being LoHud.com, from New York's Lower Hudson Valley at this link: http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709260369. But the link no longer works.
AOL India News
This story has resurfaced in blog after blog in multiple languages. Can you believe how many!
Impromptu Librarian
Fox News
CBS11 TV - Dallas
ABC Local - Philly
Wilx.com News 10 - Michigan
The Final Taxi
an Ebay Blog
WayOdd.com
clipmarks
Fly the World blog
Free Republic
SimpleBrowser
Unbelievable Facts
WaarMaarRaar - Netherlands
Knurps - NL
Ron'sLog
StudentStyle - NL
ENTRESSEIO - Brazil
Noticias.Terra.com - Brazil
Topix.com - from Associated Press
The Brea Canyon Monument
Common Sense Logic
Digital Journal 549 views, 13 comments
The Pakistan Daily Times
CaptainDramaticsMom Blog
MadConomist
SP Times of Florida
Metro.co.uk under Weird
Right-Mind from Idaho
Jobsworth at Guy-Sports.com
NieuwsEnzo.info German?
The Blogs at Trentonian
UPI.com Watercooler Stories
Inthekut Blog
Bally Blog - Anything and Everything
I'm unusual.com
MyPNW.com from the Pacific North West, reprinted the article and cited the original as being LoHud.com, from New York's Lower Hudson Valley at this link: http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709260369. But the link no longer works.
AOL India News
Jul 7, 2008
Mangialibri Interview with Camilla Trinchieri Translated
Here is the English translation of the Mangialibri interview with Camilla Trinchieri that was posted earlier in this blog.
Interview with Camilla Trinchieri by David Frati of Mangialibri
I:A wound, something painful, is hidden behind the story you tell in The Price of Silence. Maybe more than one. Which one do you identify with—the wound coming from An-Ling’s childhood or the one Emma, the protagonist, bears as a mother filled with guilt?
C:My wound is more like An-ling’s, than Emma’s. I too didn’t have a mother. That’s my starting point, even for the lighter stories, the ones you can leave on a seat at the airport. I decided to start writing January 1st, 1986 .I remember that I came home with an idea in my head and I told my husband, “Do you mind if tonight you make dinner?” I wanted to write the story of my mother, but I needed to do a lot of research. I was born in Prague and it was still communist then. To obtain a visa took at least eight months. I would have had to wait without writing, but friends dissuaded me [from stopping] and I decided to write other stories in the meantime. I was working in an advertising agency at the time and my boss refused to give me a raise. I decided to write a novel in which he was murdered. That was the beginning of seven mysteries starring Simona Griffo, an Italian (the reviewer says Italian-American but he’s wrong), who loves art and cooking. They were published under the pseudonym of Camilla Crespi. At a certain point I said stop and decided to use my real name for this story, which isn’t autobiographical.
I: The novel has been translated from English into Italian, a language that you speak and write. What effect did it have on you to be translated in a language that you understand so well? It’s not something that happens everyday to a writer…
C: Having Erika Bianchi translate me into Italian was an incredible joy. I felt myself Italian and American at the same time; I felt whole. It was such a natural process that at a certain point I began to think that the book had even been thought in Italian. Only a few times did I have difficulties understanding a few convoluted passages, but then the original English would disappear and I found myself reading my book. It felt as if the translator no longer existed, that I had done everything.
I: Do you define The Price of Silence a legal thriller? What role does the trial have in your novel?
C: The trial wasn’t in the first draft. I thought of including it to help guide me through the story, but I asked myself: what do I know about trails? It just so happened that I was chosen to be part of a jury in a real trial, and seeing how the American judicial system worked ‘from the inside’ helped me pull it off. It wasn’t a murder trial, however. A guy had stolen $70,000 dollars from his sister.
I: What writers do you look to as reference points?
C: Henry James more than anyone else, even though when I first read him I found his spiraling narration heavy-going. Only when I started writing did I understand that he only hints at things. He never describes a situation openly. He circles around facts; he doesn’t reveal them. For my formation as a reader and a writer, Agatha Christie and all the mystery classics were also very important.
[David Frati-translated by Camilla Trinchieri]
Interview with Camilla Trinchieri by David Frati of Mangialibri
I:A wound, something painful, is hidden behind the story you tell in The Price of Silence. Maybe more than one. Which one do you identify with—the wound coming from An-Ling’s childhood or the one Emma, the protagonist, bears as a mother filled with guilt?
C:My wound is more like An-ling’s, than Emma’s. I too didn’t have a mother. That’s my starting point, even for the lighter stories, the ones you can leave on a seat at the airport. I decided to start writing January 1st, 1986 .I remember that I came home with an idea in my head and I told my husband, “Do you mind if tonight you make dinner?” I wanted to write the story of my mother, but I needed to do a lot of research. I was born in Prague and it was still communist then. To obtain a visa took at least eight months. I would have had to wait without writing, but friends dissuaded me [from stopping] and I decided to write other stories in the meantime. I was working in an advertising agency at the time and my boss refused to give me a raise. I decided to write a novel in which he was murdered. That was the beginning of seven mysteries starring Simona Griffo, an Italian (the reviewer says Italian-American but he’s wrong), who loves art and cooking. They were published under the pseudonym of Camilla Crespi. At a certain point I said stop and decided to use my real name for this story, which isn’t autobiographical.
I: The novel has been translated from English into Italian, a language that you speak and write. What effect did it have on you to be translated in a language that you understand so well? It’s not something that happens everyday to a writer…
C: Having Erika Bianchi translate me into Italian was an incredible joy. I felt myself Italian and American at the same time; I felt whole. It was such a natural process that at a certain point I began to think that the book had even been thought in Italian. Only a few times did I have difficulties understanding a few convoluted passages, but then the original English would disappear and I found myself reading my book. It felt as if the translator no longer existed, that I had done everything.
I: Do you define The Price of Silence a legal thriller? What role does the trial have in your novel?
C: The trial wasn’t in the first draft. I thought of including it to help guide me through the story, but I asked myself: what do I know about trails? It just so happened that I was chosen to be part of a jury in a real trial, and seeing how the American judicial system worked ‘from the inside’ helped me pull it off. It wasn’t a murder trial, however. A guy had stolen $70,000 dollars from his sister.
I: What writers do you look to as reference points?
C: Henry James more than anyone else, even though when I first read him I found his spiraling narration heavy-going. Only when I started writing did I understand that he only hints at things. He never describes a situation openly. He circles around facts; he doesn’t reveal them. For my formation as a reader and a writer, Agatha Christie and all the mystery classics were also very important.
[David Frati-translated by Camilla Trinchieri]
Jul 6, 2008
Reviews - The Price of Silence "Engrossing and Fascinating"
"Anyone interested in a story that places heavy emphasis on the complexity of human personality will find this to be an engrossing and fascinating tale. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."
- John A Broussard
From I Love A Mystery Newsletter June 2008
- John A Broussard
From I Love A Mystery Newsletter June 2008
Jul 1, 2008
Ghigliottina
Ghigliottina's Matteo Chiavarone gave a strongly positive review of Camilla Trinchieri's Italian translation of The Price of Silence, Il prezzo del silenzio, in the June 30th edition (ANNO II Num. 26-27 del 30 Giugno 2008).
Quoted in Italian from the page long review:
"Un libro che ti costringe ad andare avanti, ti coinvolge. Una prova di valore a cui bisogna dare merito a lei, che si farà sicuramente conoscere, e alla casa editrice che ha creduto fortemente in lei. "
English translation:
English translation:
"A book that forces you to keep going, that involves you.
A worthy effort for which we must give praise both to her [the author], who will surely make herself known, and to the publishing house who strongly believed in her."
Jun 28, 2008
Italian Mangia Libri Interviews Camilla Trinchieri
Italian Mangia Libri posts an interview with Camilla Trinchieri about Il prezzo del silenzio.Click the link to read Intervista a Camilla Trinchieri.
Jun 25, 2008
Fahrenheit Site for Camilla Trinchieri
Here's Radio3 Fahrenheit's site for Camilla Trinchieri's Il prezzo del silenzio:
The review starts out well. Even us only partially literate in Italian can tell that "perfetto" means "perfect!"
"Un perfetto romanzo di detection ...."
The interview can be listened to as a PODCAST.
The review starts out well. Even us only partially literate in Italian can tell that "perfetto" means "perfect!"
"Un perfetto romanzo di detection ...."
The interview can be listened to as a PODCAST.
Raving Review: BookLoons
This just off the net. A review by Tim Davis at BookLoons.com:
"The Price of Silence - gripping and powerful as a tale of passion, sorrow, duplicity, guilt, and redemption - is a narrative told in alternating points of view: Emma's, Tom's, and Josh's. With the progress of Emma's murder trial unfolding throughout the novel, with flashback perspectives from the key characters, and with the truth about An-Ling being gradually revealed through her recovered e-mails, The Price of Silence gradually builds to a fierce crescendo within which unutterable obsessions, family tragedies, and intense secrets collide in a pulse-pounding conclusion.
As a mystery, thriller, and psychological drama, Camilla Trinchieri's spell-binding novel is a first-class literary achievement. Don't miss it! "
BookLoons.com
"The Price of Silence - gripping and powerful as a tale of passion, sorrow, duplicity, guilt, and redemption - is a narrative told in alternating points of view: Emma's, Tom's, and Josh's. With the progress of Emma's murder trial unfolding throughout the novel, with flashback perspectives from the key characters, and with the truth about An-Ling being gradually revealed through her recovered e-mails, The Price of Silence gradually builds to a fierce crescendo within which unutterable obsessions, family tragedies, and intense secrets collide in a pulse-pounding conclusion.
As a mystery, thriller, and psychological drama, Camilla Trinchieri's spell-binding novel is a first-class literary achievement. Don't miss it! "
BookLoons.com
June 25 2008 - THE day in the life of a book translator and her author!
Erika Bianchi, translator for Il prezzo del silenzio sent in her June 25, 2008 "Il prezzo del silenzio" Day schedule.
Breaking news update. Hot off the net. Temperatures in Rome exceeding hot!
Around 800 degrees Celsius! (says Erika!)
- 7, 30 leave home and buy l'Unità , VERY FAMOUS AND READ (leftist) newspaper to read the interview with Camilla Trinchieri (Update: interview wasn't in today's edition)
- 7,50 train from Florence to Rome
- 9,30 arrival in Rome, meet up with Camilla at the station
- 9,31 buy Anna, another VERY FAMOUS AND READ MAGAZINE with a piece (of undefined nature) on Prezzo
- 10 am - 3 pm preparation for the race!
- 3,30 taxi to RAI studios
- 4,20-5,20 Camilla's interview at Farhenheit
- 5,30 fastest possible taxi to Feltrinelli bookstore in the city center
- 6 book reading
- 7,30 two more interviews for journalists, bloggers etc.
- 8,30 dinner with publishers
- 11 pm ... Total COLLAPSE!
Jun 24, 2008
Prezzo listed in top ten sellers at Nuovo Minerva Ingrosso
Il prezzo del silenzio is listed in the top ten selling books on the Nuova Minerva Ingrosso site, currently at #8!
"Prezzo" showing up in MySpace, Blogs
Dimibox on MySpace has recently listed Il prezzo del silenzio among his books.
Camiz on his WordPress Blog posted the book covers.
Italian Literature Review.
To date, 9 people have listed "Prezzo" on their shelves at aNobii
Mappi on an Italian social networking site called Splinder.
Parola del Giorno.
In raraMente.net.
The Mystery Gazette.
Thriller Magazine.
RTL 102.5 Non Stop News - Audio Interview
Radio interview on RTL 102.5 in Italian with Camilla Trinchieri. Listen here!
Il prezzo del silenzio, un thriller psicologico della scrittrice italo-americana Camilla Trinchieri: intervista all'autrice
Jun 21, 2008
Marcos Y Marcos Florence Event Photos
Check out the good photos from the Florence Il prezzo del silenzio book launch. Marcos Y Marcos, the publisher has posted them, with a great quote from Camilla.
From the June 19 presentation at the Edison di Firenze bookstore in Florence.
"Sono contenta di essere qui; per via di mio padre, e di una fetta della mia vita, mi sento italiana per metà . Scrivo in inglese, vivo a New York da ventotto anni, ma ho sempre portato l'Italia dentro di me. Vedere il mio romanzo pubblicato qui mi ha fatto sentire completa".
(Tentative English translation!)
"I am happy to be here; through my father, and through one of my life accomplishments, I feel part Italian. I write in English, live in New York for twenty years now, but have always carried Italy inside me. To see my book published here makes me feel complete."
From the June 19 presentation at the Edison di Firenze bookstore in Florence.
"Sono contenta di essere qui; per via di mio padre, e di una fetta della mia vita, mi sento italiana per metà . Scrivo in inglese, vivo a New York da ventotto anni, ma ho sempre portato l'Italia dentro di me. Vedere il mio romanzo pubblicato qui mi ha fatto sentire completa".
(Tentative English translation!)
"I am happy to be here; through my father, and through one of my life accomplishments, I feel part Italian. I write in English, live in New York for twenty years now, but have always carried Italy inside me. To see my book published here makes me feel complete."
Jun 20, 2008
Florence Book Reading
Camilla Trinchieri and her translator Erika Bianchi, with two other authors spoke to a gathering of over 50 people, with much laughter, applause and book buying!
Camilla in white, at center. Erika in black, on the left side of the photo.
Jun 18, 2008
GRAZIA Magazine: Book Review
Camilla Trinchieri at NewMonde Chinese restaurant in Cary, North Carolina
The GRAZIA magazine Il prezzo del silenzio review was published with the photo above. The magazine isn't available on the internet to link to, so we've translated the review.
Blog writer comment: If there's a category for 'haiku' book reviews, this one would be a close candidate! Part of it is the Italian phrasing, which makes for swift reading in Italian, and a little abruptness in English. It's like translating from Chinese. Same thing. Abrupt, but the short phrases are so readily absorbed... except, perhaps the last line. And what do you make of the second to the last line! Is that a friendly "clearly written by a woman," or a less-than-friendly "clearly written by a woman?" It's a woman's magazine, does that help us know?
The GRAZIA Magazine review of Il prezzo del silenzio, translated into English:
Emma, a welcoming woman, teaches English to immigrants and opens the door of her home to An-ling, inviting her to stay with her family: husband and son. But the young Chinese woman dies and Emma is put on trial for her murder.
An-ling, the mysterious woman, has knocked down the wall of silence, but the truth has crushed her and the family. A novel clearly written by a woman. Background of denunciation.
From Rome to Florence, Before the Book Presentation
From Camilla:
A whirlwind of emotions. In the midst of the excitement over the Italian edition of The Price of Silence, I’m reconnecting with friends who are pouring out their feelings, their fears, sometimes, not often enough, their joys. I listen and feel with them, for them and wish I could be with them more often.
I’m reading, speaking, breathing Italian. I walk the streets of Rome and go back in time, looking at the street corner where I bought my sister some lilies for her birthday, the restaurant where I gobbled down pizza after seeing Woody Allen’s Manhattan with friends, the palazzo that used to be the Foreign Ministry where my father worked. But Rome, that for years stood still, is changing. A lot of old reference points are gone. I don’t like it. I selfishly want the milestones of my memories to be there always, even as I realize that to let go of the past is a good thing.
I’ve just arrived in Florence. I’m staying at Erika’s house. She’s the Italian translator, who has become a close friend. She fed me a wonderful champagne and salmon risotto, lots of white wine. Tomorrow night the book presentation. I’m thrilled and scared at the same time. I don’t know what to expect. Thank God Erika is here to give me courage. She has a lot of friends. They will be coming for her and, if they are half as welcoming and generous as she is, it will be a memorable evening.
Italian Radio 3 Fahrenheit! June 25 4PM - 5:20
(Imaged aggregated by A. McGaha, using 2 Radiotre Fahrenheit logos, combined with created text image of interview details.)
The Italian Radio 3 program, FAHRENHEIT, will be interviewing author Camilla Trinchieri one week from today, Wednesday June 25, between 4 and 5:20 pm in Rome, Italy. (So far we haven't seen this information posted on the Website.)
For those who didn't know, Fahrenheit is considered, the best, most serious, most intellectual, most followed, most famous, most reliable and most trusted radio program about books in Italy. When the anchorman, Marino Sinibaldi, recommends a book, people listen!
We're hoping the recording, for those of you who can understand Italian, will be posted on the Fahrenheit site http://www.radio.rai.it/RADIO3/FAHRENHEIT/index.cfm.
Maybe we'll be able to hear the interview live from remote locations. The station has online listening; frequencies all over Italy; and both webcam and podcasts. We'll have to see what's available that day for Fahrenheit. Listen online. If in Italy, here are the station frequencies by city. Radio 3 Webcam.
Radiotre FAHRENHEIT interview with Camilla Trinchieri
Wednesday June 25, 4- 5:20 PM, Rome, Italy
Wednesday June 25, 4- 5:20 PM, Rome, Italy
Jun 16, 2008
D la Repubblica delle Donne
Review of Camilla Trinchieri's Il prezzo del silenzio in major Italian woman's magazine! From D la Repubblica delle Donne:
Segreti in terra straniera A volte l'ingresso di uno sconosciuto nella vita delle persone produce l'apertura di faglie, smottamenti, valanghe. Soprattutto se è inquieto e irresistibilmente fragile come An-ling, l'artista cinese che un giorno si presenta al corso per stranieri a New York in cui Emma insegna inglese. Il romanzo di Camilla Trinchieri si apre in medias res: An-ling è stata uccisa, Emma è indagata, i testimoni ricostruiscono per la giuria una storia che, come sempre accade, è più complessa e dilaniante di come appaia. Emma custodisce nel segreto della sua intimità l'incidente in cui ha ucciso una figlia di due anni, il marito Tom ancora gliene vuole e il figlio adolescente Josh non sa nulla di quel passato. An-ling, col suo carico di dolore, andrà a scardinare e a esporre i segreti di ognuno. An-ling, o dell'ambiguità . Un personaggio di pura fantasia?
"Sì e no. Anch'io, come lei, mi sono sentita "straniera" in America. Mi sono trasferita perché la mia vita personale stava andando alla deriva. Avevo lavorato con Fellini in La città delle donne e la sua cartomante mi aveva predetto che negli Usa avrei trovato la mia realizzazione. All'inizio, però, è stata durissima. Vendevo la pasta De Cecco a Little Italy, e per molto tempo mi sono sentita persa, senza radici, mi tenevo a galla senza intravedere una prospettiva. Ho conosciuto il mio attuale marito dopo una settimana dal mio arrivo, ma entrambi eravamo così spaventati dall'idea di rientrare in un rapporto amoroso che la cosa ci ha messo tre anni ad accadere".
An-ling agisce come una bomba nella vita apparentemente tranquilla di questa insegnante italiana... "È sempre un elemento esterno a far piazza pulita delle difese che ci si è attentamente costruiti. Emma e Tom hanno sepolto per anni la rabbia e la disperazione per la morte della loro bambina. An-ling risveglia in Emma l'amore materno che ha sempre avuto paura di dare al secondo figlio Josh. In Tom risveglia la rabbia sopita. In Josh la curiosità adolescenziale per la sessualità , tanto più che né lui né il padre riescono a decifrare la natura del rapporto tra Emma e An-ling". Nel finale sembra che l'organismo-famiglia digerisca il crimine... "Ma siamo sicuri che sia stato un crimine? Henry James parla di "fatal futility of fact". Sono d'accordo, la realtà è ben altro che oggettività . Ora tocca al lettore interpretarla".
Monica Capuani - Camilla Trinchieri, Il prezzo del silenzio, Marcos y Marcos, 16 euro "
From DLib Dmemory
D la Repubblica delle donne no 601, 34 D lib, p34
[http://periodici.repubblica.it/d/?num=601]
Jun 11, 2008
Note from Camilla on her Trip to Rome - A Homecoming
Camilla writes:
Tomorrow I leave for
This year is different. My book, The Price of Silence, has been translated into Italian. My heart started dancing when I found out and hasn’t stopped. I’m half Italian (on my father’s side) and half American and living in one country and then the other, I have always felt split in two. Now I’m whole thanks to this book, to my words being in both languages. I feel such joy. Yes, it’s wonderful to have the book sold to another country. The money is nice and it’s flattering. One can hope it will sell well, hope royalties will come in. That’s all true and I’m not denying that it’s part of my joy, but there’s so much more. Jeffrey, a friend of mine, put it in a nutshell. “It’s a homecoming,” he said.
I’m spending a week in
Then off to
My translator, Erika Bianchi, is from
Then back to
But then the transformation of The Price of Silence into Il prezzo
Ciao
Jun 10, 2008
Camilla Trinchieri Tops Marcos Y Marcos' Website
Marcos and Marcos has placed author Camilla Trinchieri to the center top of their main website.
Grazia Magazine to talk about Il prezzo del silenzio
Stay posted! Grazia magazine, one of the premier ladies magazines in Italy will have an article on Il prezzo del silenzio!
Here's the link to the Grazia blog.
A sample cover of the Italian GRAZIA magazine is below. Click for subscription info!
Here's the link to the Grazia blog.
A sample cover of the Italian GRAZIA magazine is below. Click for subscription info!
Jun 8, 2008
Jun 6, 2008
Italian Radio Interviews Author
Two Italian radio stations have interviewed Camilla about her book Il prezzo del silenzio, and about her upcoming visit to Italy. We're hoping the interviews will be recorded for online listening, stay posted. The daughter of an Italian diplomat, and having lived many years in Rome, Camilla is fluent in Italian; both interviews were in Italian.
Italian Publisher Marcos Y Marcos Lists Author Readings
On the events page for Italian publisher Marcos Y Marcos, the Camilla Trinchieri events in Florence and Rome are listed. In the photos on the page for previous author readings, you can see Camilla's book cover on the wall.
May 28, 2008
Invitation to Book Reading in Rome, Italy - June 25 6PM
The invitation is published.Camilla Trinchieri will be reading from the Italian translation of The Price of Silence, Il Prezzo del silenzio in Rome, Italy on Wednesday, June 25, at 6pm.
Le Librerie Feltrinelli
via del Babuino 39/40
Rome, Italy
tel: 06 36001842
For a larger version, scroll to the bottom of the page.
May 25, 2008
Price of Silence Book Reviews
Here are links to some of the many book reviews on The Price of Silence.
You can also find highlights of many of the reviews on the Reviews page of the Camilla Trinchieri Website.
US Amazon.com
Genre Go Round Reviews, May 22, 2008
Gumshoe Review June 2008
Australia's Chaos.com
Canada's Amazon.ca
May 23, 2008
On Writing: Writing My Way Home
Camilla writes about how she began writing during a new phase in her life:
I left Rome in the summer of 1980, eager to make a new life for myself in America like so many Italians before me. New York City was the only possible choice for my new home. I had two wonderful, supportive friends from my college days at Barnard and those four years in the city--during which I played, sometimes studied and above all discovered my independence--were the best years of my life. Or so I remembered, which is all that counts.
to continue click here
I left Rome in the summer of 1980, eager to make a new life for myself in America like so many Italians before me. New York City was the only possible choice for my new home. I had two wonderful, supportive friends from my college days at Barnard and those four years in the city--during which I played, sometimes studied and above all discovered my independence--were the best years of my life. Or so I remembered, which is all that counts.
to continue click here
Author to Launch Italian edition of Price of Silence in Italy
Author, Camilla Trinchieri, will be returning to her Italian roots to launch Il prezzo del silenzio, The Price of Silence, in its Italian translation.
Trinchieri will be reading at these book stores in Italy:
Libreria Edison in Piazza della Reppublica in Florence
Feltrinelli bookstore (The Barnes & Noble of Italy) in Rome
Trinchieri will be reading at these book stores in Italy:
Libreria Edison in Piazza della Reppublica in Florence
Feltrinelli bookstore (The Barnes & Noble of Italy) in Rome
May 16, 2008
The Price of Silence (Paperback)
The Price of Silence (Paperback)
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Soho Press (June 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1569474974
ISBN-13: 978-1569474976
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
Reviews
Amazon.com; CamillaTrinchieri.com; Amazon.ca ;
May 8, 2008
Il Prezzo del Silenzio
The Price of Silence now translated into Italian by Erika Bianchi!Available in Italy in stores now.
This summary in Italian from RARAMente.net:
Manhattan.
Emma insegna inglese agli immigrati, è sposata e ha un figlio adolescente.
È accusata di aver ucciso An-ling, la ragazza con cui ha convissuto qualche mese. Mentre il processo incalza, e i testimoni consegnano i loro frammenti di verità , Emma, il marito Tom e il figlio Josh, a turno, ci confidano i retroscena del loro rapporto con An-ling. An-ling scivola nella classe di Emma una mattina, con l’aria spaurita. Parla a stento l’inglese, sostiene di essere appena arrivata dalla Cina. Emma l’accoglie d’impulso nella sua famiglia e nella sua vita. Ma An-ling si rivela sfuggente e selvatica, spiazza tutti con le sue provocazioni, le sue bugie, la sua determinazione a scavare nel passato di quella famiglia apparentemente normale. In un crescendo di tensione, affiorano emozioni sepolte nel cuore di ciascuno: ferite ancora aperte e nuovi potenti desideri, sempre più clandestini, sempre più pericolosi. Tutto fa pensare che sia stata Emma a uccidere An-ling, ma pian piano emerge che anche Tom, e persino Josh, avrebbero avuto un buon motivo per farlo. E il dubbio domina fino all’ultima pagina.An-ling, ragazza misteriosa, ha abbattuto il muro del silenzio: verrà travolta da troppe verità .
Camilla Trinchieri nasce a Praga, figlia di un diplomatico italiano e di un’americana. Gira il mondo, studia a New York e va a vivere a Roma. Per diciassette anni lavora nel cinema come assistente al doppiaggio; è orgogliosa di aver lavorato con Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Lina Wertmüller, Marcello Mastroianni, Sofia Loren. Poi la sua vita privata va in tilt e Camilla decide di lasciare l’Italia. Un lettore di tarocchi le rivela che a New York si sarebbe ricongiunta con il lato più creativo di sé. Nell’attesa si guadagna da vivere vendendo pasta De Cecco a Little Italy. Raccontando la sua nuova vita in lunghe lettere agli amici romani, scopre il piacere di narrare.Storie di donne, sentimenti, misteri, con il punto di vista peculiare di una newyorkese nata a Praga che si sente molto italiana. I primi libri li firma Camilla Crespi: Trinchieri è difficile da pronunciare. Per Il prezzo del silenzio usa il suo vero nome perché ci ha messo tutta se stessa. Camilla divide il suo tempo tra il Greenwich Village, dove abita e scrive, e Brooklyn, dove dipinge. Si ritiene molto fortunata perché passa le giornate facendo quello che le piace e le notti con l’uomo che ama.
Camilla TrinchieriAdded: April 30th 2008
IL PREZZO DEL SILENZIO
320 pagine, 16 euro
traduzione di Erika Bianchi
IN LIBRERIA DAL 29 MAGGIO 2008
Marcos Y Marcos
Reviewer: redazione raraMente.net
"The Trouble With" Series listed in "Mysteriously Disapppearing" Listmania List
Camilla Trinchieri's The Trouble With series was listed in an Amazon Listmania! list called:
Jun 1, 1997
The Trouble with a Hot Summer
The Trouble with a Hot Summer
A Simona Griffo Mystery
by Camilla T. Crespi
June 1997, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-017662-8
Where I Get My Ideas
I was staying at a friend's cottage out in East Hampton. Looking out of her picture window in the very early morning I saw a man row across the window's view. An hour later I saw him row back into view. When I asked my friend about him, she explained he had suffered a heart attack and rowed for exercise every morning without fail. Intrigued by the words "without fail" I watched him the next morning and wondered, what if he doesn't come back?
Setting
Long Island -- East Hampton, Springs, South Hampton hospital, Sag Harbor.
New York City -- Upper West Side, Union Square, Greenwich Village.
Plot
Simona is at the end of a troubled vacation with Stan and Willy in the Hamptons when she shares iced coffee and a foggy dawn with Springs resident and advertising genius, Bud Warren. Mistaking Simona for a licensed P.I., thanks to the maneuverings of Simona's friend Dmitri, Bud asks Simona to investigate his ex-wife's death from drowning exactly one year ago. Bud swears it was murder even though the police decreed suicide. There's a heat wave going on and Simona agrees to meet Bud that evening in the cool waters of Gardiner's Bay to discuss the matter further. The only problem is that Bud never comes back from his morning row.
Recurring Characters
* Stan and Willy Greenhouse
* Dmitri K.
* Raf Garcia, Stan's partner
* Gregory Price, Simona's co-worker
Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Crespi softens the dark edges of her mystery with deft humor, allowing Simona to enjoy the Hamptons' hot spots, rub elbows with celebs and entertain a mild flirtation with the owner of a trendy restaurant. The mix of breezy vacation fun and somber matters of death, passion and art provides the tension needed to make this a sultry summer read.
Mostly Murder
A brisk mystery and a fun read and Camilla Crespi is one hot writer.
Mystery News
For well-knit stories told in a humorous vein Crespi is right up there with today's best.
The Boston Sunday Globe
The dialogue is lively, the mystery reasonably mysterious, and the sense of place is appealing.
The Beginning
That magical light that enticed countless artists was gone. Gardiner's Bay, twenty feet ahead, had disappeared during the night like Brigadoon. The white windmill of Gardiner's Island across the bay had turned into a memory. It was an August Sunday in Springs, a hamlet just north of East Hampton on Long Island, New York. At 6:03 AM the temperature was seventy-four degrees. The sun a white blister wrapped in gray gauze. Depending on your mood, the fog was dreary, romantic or scary.
Bud Warren was unusually talkative. "The ugly cliché. Greed and vanity destroying nature's beauty." He wiped his forehead with a tanned, gnarled hand. "When I first came out here in '56, the place was still unspoiled." Bud poured coffee. "This heat we've been getting? Man-made. Ozone layer's thinner than a Park Avenue wife."
The Hamptons was expected to reach ninety-three for the fourth day in a row. New York City, one hundred again. This was the third morning Bud and I met at this hour. We'd mostly stared at the water's edge and the fog beyond.
More
Recipe -- Cool Pasta
Serves four
* 4 ears of corn
* 4 large ripe tomatoes
* 2 bunches scallions
* 4 tbsp. olive oil
* 1 cup loosley packed basil leaves
* 5 large fresh mint leaves
* 1 lb. pasta shells
* salt and pepper to taste
Cut corn off the cobs with a serrated knife. Reserve the cobs. Seed and dice the tomatoes. Trim and thinly slice the scallions, including the light green part.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add the scallions and sauté over medium heat for 3 minutes. Mix in corn. Cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and season vegetables well with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes more.
Tear basil and mint leaves. Remove skillet from heat and add leaves. Allow the vegetables to cool in a large serving bowl.
Add the reserved cobs to a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta shells.
When shells are al dente (approx. 12 mins), drain and remove cobs. Add pasta to vegetables in bowl. Mix well, check for seasoning, and serve.
Buon appetito!
Jan 1, 1996
The Trouble with a Bad Fit
The Trouble with a Bad Fit
A Simona Griffo Mystery
by Camilla T. Crespi
1996, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-109-4080, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0-06-109408-0
Where I Get My Ideas
Working with several fashion accounts during my advertising days, I became fascinated with the business of clothes. With Bad Fit I got a chance to study the rag trade and find out how a piece of cloth develops into a dress and tons of hype. I did a lot of research for this book, hanging out in a design studio and at the Fashion Institute of Technology library. I came up with a lot of information that I was afraid to include in the book for fear of slowing the mystery down, so I added "fashion footnotes" in the back of the book for those readers who want to know more. The rag trade the way it was known to the countless immigrants who survived on it is disappearing. As a recent immigrant I wanted to tip my hat to that business.
In this one, I also got a chance to pit Stan against Simona as they work on the same case. I guess I like to test their love for each other.
Setting
New York: the garment district, Greenwich Village, Union Square, Soho, Chinatown, Bryant Park, Upper West Side, Penn Station South, Long Island.
Plot
Roberta Riddle, an aging designer who is trying to make a comeback and one of Simona's difficult clients, has one week to get her act together before the New York ready-to-wear spring/summer fashion shows. Her new partner, Charlie, is giving her problems. Someone is playing nasty tricks on her. Then her muse and fit model, Phyllis, gets her head bludgeoned with Roberta's jade Buddha in the ladies room where Charlie left a bloody fingerprint. Stan Greenhouse is assigned the case. Roberta knows that Stan is also Simona's boyfriend. She offers Simona five thousand dollars to help clear Charlie.
Simona, whose own job is at risk, wants to keep a client happy even though Stan doesn't like it one bit. When someone starts chasing after Simona, she hires a bodyguard -- Dmitri K, a Stalin look-alike who drives a taxi, uses his cousin's pink Cadillac as an office, and sells hair on the side. They soon become sparring partners and fast friends. Careening from one side of Manhattan to another, they piece together the fragments of everyone's past which comes together just as Roberta's models sashay down the runway of the fashion tent in Bryant Park.
Recurring Characters
* Stan Greenhouse
* Raf Garcia, his partner
* Willy Greenhouse
* Gregory Price, Simona's good friend at work last seen in Small Raise
Reviews
A fast paced thriller...Ms. Crespi has an eye for fashion detail that gives the novel a cutting edge. -- The Sunday New York Times Book Review
This is a clever little novel with lots of insider bits about high fashion and snappy characters. -- Toronto Globe & Mail
Quick-moving prose, good garment-district atmosphere and a heady mixture of skeletons in the closet makes this a recommended title. -- Library Journal
Sprightly, sunny, and gossipy: a welcome return. -- Kirkus Reviews
The Beginning
"Garmentos stab you in the chest!" Phyllis announced.
Roberta Riddle ripped a muslin sleeve from the jacket Phyllis was modeling.
From the open workroom door, the tailor scowled. The sample maker nodded. The production manager jiggled his sneakered foot.
Roberta ripped out the other sleeve.
Recipe -- Schmatta* Pasta
Serves six
* 2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
* 8 tbsps olive oil
* 1 lb. white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
* 1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
* 1/2 lb. portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 slices bacon, diced
* 4 cloves garlic, peeled
* 1 (28 oz.) can peeled Italian tomatoes
* 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cup flat-leafed parsley, chopped
* 1 lb fresh lasagne**
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Soak dried porcini mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups of warm water for 30 minutes. Remove the softened porcini from liquid and rinse under water. Chop. Drain mushroom liquid through a sieve lined with a paper towel and reserve.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Heat 2 tbsps. of olive oil in large skillet. Sauté fresh mushrooms in batches over high heat until water evaporates. With each batch, add oil as needed (reserving 2 tbsps). Season with salt and pepper.
In another skillet sauté bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and discard bacon grease. Heat the reserved 2 tbsps. of oil in the same skillet and cook garlic cloves until golden. Add tomatoes, mushroom liquid, bacon, and red pepper flakes. Cook over high heat for ten minutes. Remove garlic and season to taste. Add all the mushrooms and mix well. Cook for another five minutes to heat through. Add parsley.
Tear fresh lasagne into three-inch pieces to make schmatte. Drop lasagne pieces (rags) into the boiling water. Mix well to keep them form sticking to each other. Cook until al dente (three minutes) and drain.
Pour half the sauce and half the Parmesan in a large serving dish. Add schmatte and mix well. Pour rest of mushroom sauce and rest of Parmesan on top. Mix again and serve.
*Schmatta in Yiddish means rag. The clothing business was often referred to as the rag trade or the schmatta trade.
**Dried lasagne can also be used -- crack in half before boiling. Cook until al dente (approx. 10-12 minutes).
NOTE: Recipe can be prepared in advance and kept in refrigerator for two days or can be frozen. If not serving immediately, cook the pasta for only two minutes. Reheat pasta and sauce in 400-degree oven until piping hot (15 minutes approx.).
Jan 1, 1995
The Trouble with Going Home
The Trouble with Going Home
A Simona Griffo Mystery
by Camilla T. Crespi
1995, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-109153-7, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0-06-109153-7
Where I Get My Ideas
While writing the previous book, Thin Ice, it became clear to me that Simona needed to clear up the debris from her past if she wanted her American life to go anywhere so I took her back home to Rome to face some old ghosts. In this book I wanted to deal with loyalty, tradition, and the power of Italian family ties.
Because Rome is laden with history and art, I begin each chapter with a quote about the city which also connects with the events described in the chapter.
Going Home has been optioned by Dolphin Entertainment for a possible TV movie.
Setting
A Rome tourists seldom see.
Plot
Simona flies back to Rome to find out what has gone wrong in her parent's marriage. She hasn't been back more that an hour when she witnesses the mugging and stabbing death of a young American art student just outside the building where her mother is temporarily living with Mirella, an old friend of the family's and the dead student's art teacher. When the murder weapon is traced back to Mirella's kitchen, Mirella, her son Luke and even her 92-year-old Nonna are suspects. Simona's mother asks Simona to help clear Mirella's family of any suspicion. Simona agrees, although she suspects her mother is really only trying to distract her from finding out what has happened to her father who seems to have disappeared.
Simona soon finds out that Tamar, the dead student, may have been carrying a lost Leonardo da Vinci drawing in the satchel that was stolen the day she was killed -- a drawing that may have been stolen from the crumbling palazzo of a prince who seems very much interested in Simona's mother or taken from the home of a rich American businessman and collector with whom Mirella is in love. Even Simona's ex-husband, who keeps showing up playing the charmer, was somehow involved with the dead student. As Simona tries to help her friends and stay connected to Stan by long distance calls, she has to sort out her own ambivalent feelings as to where home really is.
Recurring Characters
* Stan Greenhouse
* his son Willy
Reviews
A mouth-watering caper. Murder may provide the impetus for the action in this book, but it is a particularly Roman lust for life that keeps us turning the pages. -- The Denver Post
...the picture Crespi paints of the extended Italian family is emotionally complex, and her knowledge of love for them is worth the visit. -- The Drood Review
RECOMMENDED...evocative descriptions of the Eternal City make an interesting backdrop to a compelling mystery. -- Deadly Pleasures
Camilla Crespi makes the city come alive. -- Critics' Choice, America Online
Crespi imbues Simona with new depths and self-revelations, ultimately providing a wonderfully satisfying Roman holiday not only for Simona, but for the readers as well. -- Kate's Mystery Books Newsletter
A fitting background for a mystery shrouded in the examination of the many forms of love, Rome is beautiful and deadly. A very clever puzzle will satisfy but the images of the Eternal City in springtime will captivate and transport the armchair traveler who longs for the rich tastes and smells of Italy. -- Mystery Lovers Bookshop News
The Beginning
"Go thou to Rome, at once the Paradise."
--Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais
It was the girl who held my attention.
The scooter had whizzed in front of me -- two heads and a blur of dark, long hair -- but the girl on the sidewalk looked straight at me, her expression thoughtful, not the stunned surprise I expected.
Recipe -- Pasta Allegria (Happiness Pasta)
Serves four as a main course
* 4 small and firm zucchini
* 2 large yellow bell peppers
* 1 large Japanese eggplant (long and slim, the color is light purple. It is sweeter than Italian eggplant.)
* 2 lbs ripe plum tomatoes
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 10 large leaves of basil
* 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 lb short tubular pasta (penne or rigatoni)
* Salt and pepper
* Kosher salt for pasta water
To be prepared four to six hours before serving:
Remove grill from broiler and cover with tin foil. Turn on broiler. Slice zucchini in 1/8" horizontal strips. Repeat procedure for eggplant. Cut peppers, remove seeds and white cores and slice into 1" strips. Halve the tomatoes.
Lay out zucchini on foil-covered grill, season with salt and pepper, and grill on top rung of broiler for 4 minutes on each side. When done, remove to a large serving bowl.
Repeat procedure for eggplant and peppers (peppers may take longer depending on thickness). The vegetables should turn golden brown, with a few burnt edges. Broil tomatoes, cut side up, for 10-12 minutes. Mix the cooked vegetables together and cut them into smaller pieces inside the bowl. Add minced garlic and hand-shredded basil leaves. Check for seasoning and correct if necessary. Add olive oil. Let the vegetables macerate in the bowl at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours. (If it is a hot day, you may put in refrigerator, but remove at least an hour before serving.)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta. Cook until al dente (10 to 12 minutes depending on quality of pasta). Drain, add to vegetable bowl. Mix well and serve.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
My StumbleUpon Page
