LinksMittwoch, November 30, 2022, 12:15 - BÜCHER
... for the coldness of the Milanese people and its climate, nor its insipid food. Suddenly there were no friends or neighbours around, and my mother disappeared early in the morning, working to pay the rent and put food on the table. (...) (...) University was not an option - I started working at 14 - but I read feverishly, and the millions of words that filled my mind gave me a hope that my world could be different. (...)
(...) and in the late 60s I escaped the constrictions of the family and came to London with a married lover. It was like being plunged into another world. Nothing had prepared me for the aloofness and formality. Simply brushing against somebody's arm on a bus was something audacious and unwelcome. I soon learnt to say sorry. Conviviality was not an offer. Beans on toast were.
Food was not celebrated, and the shops selling fruit and vegetables made my heart ache: no plump ripe tomatoes, glistening peppers or soft juicy pears. I yearned for the markets of Puglia with all their vibrancy. (...)
Link: https://www.unicornpublishing.org/page/detail/Under-the-Olive-Tree/?K=9781913491086