Author(s): Brian Johnston

Travel

Family honour, religion, tragedy, sex, mayhem and most of all food - this memoir of a Sicilian summer is full of eccentric personalities, family clashes and revelations that are at once amusing and sad - and never short of surprises. 'I came to Sicily an idle bystander and found myself bewitched by its neglected grandeur, sad beauty and passionate intensity in the background. I hear once more the cool fizz of lemons on a hot day, the demented click of cicadas and the spluttering of battered Fiats in narrow streets: the sounds of Sicily. This is a story of family honour, religion, tragedy, sex, bitter history and sweet pastries.' Travel writer Brian Johnston accepted an invitation to attend the confirmation of a friend's god-daughter in Sicily, naively expecting little more than the chance to immerse himself in some genuine southern Italian hospitality, while exploring the vibrant tastes, smells, flavours and rituals of Sicilian food. But Sicily has a way of getting under your skin, and as well as being seduced by the island's earthy and mysterious charms, he found himself unexpectedly swept up in flamboyant family dramas and dangerous village politics, eccentric personalities and age-old feuds. A delicious and wholly irresistible tale of passion, power, politics and pasta! This is the story of a summer in Sicily.