The Lemon Tree Hotel

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by Rosanna Ley


  Vernazza has now been restored to its former glory. But it is a busy tourist town and the organisation urges visitors to respect the hiking trails and to support the local community by eating their food and drinking their wine. Maintaining the olive groves and vineyards will help to prevent such a disaster from occurring again.

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to Vernazza. I have tried my best to be faithful to its spirit. The outside locations in this book are all real enough, but the people came entirely from my head and do not exist outside of this story. I would like to think that The Lemon Tree Hotel could exist on the hillside outside Vernazza, but of course it does not – which is a shame because if it did, I for one would like to go there . . .

  If I have made any mistakes, or caused any offence to its residents in the way I have made use of this location that I love, I apologise unreservedly.

  Thanks to the talented and hard-working team at Quercus, who make it happen. First and foremost the amazing Stefanie Bierwerth, who is always supportive and encouraging, and whose wonderful enthusiasm is legendary. Even better, she is an excellent editor and a joy to work with. I’d also like to thank Jon Butler and other members of the brilliant team: Olivia Mead, Olivia Allen, Katie Sadler, Rachel Neely, Laura McKerrell, and anyone else who has worked on this book. Quercus have shown their faith in me, and I am hugely grateful.

  I’d like to thank my agent, the talented and perceptive Laura Longrigg of MBA, for her continuing support. She is always there for me, and always on my side, and I appreciate her more than I can say. Louisa Pritchard of Louisa Pritchard Associates also deserves my thanks – she works so hard with MBA and markets and publishers overseas, for which I am hugely grateful.

  In Vernazza I met the artist Antonio Greco who shared with me his personal story of 25 October 2011, and showed me some incredible photographs of the devastation caused by the mudslides. He created the plaque in the village: alle sue donne, which pays homage to the women who supported Vernazza after the storm. I’d like to thank Antonio for his generosity and time, and also Gianni Franzi, who runs a restaurant by the harbour and who has written a charming and nostalgic memoir: Vernazza – Snow Always Comes from the Sea.

  Other books that I used in my research and that I found invaluable were: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, The Rape of Europa by Lynn H Nicholas, and Saving Italy by Robert M Edsel.

  Thanks to all my family for everything that they do and everything that they mean to me. That’s my son Luke, Agata and Tristan in Copenhagen; my daughters Alexa and Ana, and my husband Grey. Grey takes all the photographs on my research trips, is always full of ideas, and has to listen to me droning on about the story before, during, and after I’ve written it. I’m sure it isn’t easy being married to someone who spends so much of her time in another world. Family – I love you all, you are amazing.

  Thanks to friends who go beyond the call of duty in their support for my writing – particularly Wendy Tomlins, June Tate, Laura James, and Anita Count. Thanks to writers in the groups I meet with – in the RNA, in Andalucia, in Dorset, especially my newbie writers’ group of Maria Donovan and Gail Aldwin – I hope we are an established group by the time you read this. Thanks to all the writers who I love reading (too many to mention!) and all those writers who give support both in person and on social media – you know who you are . . . Thanks to the Bloggers who are honest, supportive, and very quick readers (!) – may I say that your reviews are perceptive, insightful, and highly appreciated.

  And thanks to you utterly gorgeous readers – without you, where would we all be?

  The enchanting new novel from Rosanna Ley

  From Lisbon to Prague to Venice, follow Joanna on a journey of a lifetime . . .

  Buy From Venice with Love now

  Table of Contents

  The Lemon Tree Hotel

  Also By

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  CHAPTER 50

  CHAPTER 51

  CHAPTER 52

  CHAPTER 53

  About Vernazza (some spoilers here . . .)

  Acknowledgements

 

 

 


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