I’ve written before about my mother, a larger-than-life character who at almost five foot and fierce, was definitely the matriarch of our family. Having spent her youth in Rome, she was mad about Italy. When I say ‘mad about’ I mean totally crazy about the country, the people and the food. Nobody could cook a better calamari, scaloppine or bolognese sauce than her (and I have tried). Moreover, she was fluent in the language and spoke to me in Italian rather than English, in the hope that I would one day land a job in the country of her dreams and take her with me.

I always think my mum should have been born Italian. She had to settle for holidays in the country rather than living there, and although she and my father had planned to move there on his retirement, he passed away only a few months after giving up work and that dream too popped.

I never moved to Italy (although part of me wishes I had) but today, something is happening that would have made my mother very proud. It is the launch of  LITTLE GIRL LOST in Italian.

Hope Crime part of Hope Edizioni are publishing LA BAMBINA PERDUTA in paperback and eBook and my heart is overjoyed. I always get excited when one of my books comes out in a foreign language. The linguist in me jumps up and down in glee but this one has even more meaning…

This one is solely for you ‘mamma mia’.