The Lemon Tree Hotel
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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?
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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