Tuscany plays an integral part of my novel Mr de Sousa's Legacy

Although my book Mr de Souas’s Legacy is subtitled A Cornish love story, the novel takes you on a journey to Tuscany, Yorkshire and Devon, although the story continually weaves its way back to the Cornish village of Gweek on the Helford River.

Let me share with you why one of these places influenced me and prompted me to write my novel.

Tuscany is well known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy and its permanent influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science.

 

 

 

I first visited Tuscany in the early 80's and was enchanted by the beautiful countryside.

I remember standing on a hillside in the baking heat, overlooking the vineyards, where rows of vines, laid out in formation, reached out into the rolling hillsides with snaking rust coloured roads between them.  Then as I looked further into the distance, green cypress trees flanked the roads as they wound their way up to the red roofed farmhouse on the hill top .  It was truly awe inspiring, I knew I would have to write about it one day.

 

 

One of my favourite places is Pisa, if you can look beyond the hordes of people all having their photo taken trying to hold the tower up .

I especially like the Camposanto, if feels such a tranquil haven, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

In the 12th century, knights of the fourth crusade brought back loads of soil from Golgotha, the place of Christ’s crucifixion in Jerusalem, and created a sacred burial space in Pisa. Over the centuries, the Camposanto became the cultural center of Pisa and the region. Many were buried there, and priceless Roman sarcophagi and statues, along with biblical relics, were housed there and the walls were completely decorated in beautiful frescos. The Camposanto was the one of the most important and priceless historical structures in all of Italy.

My story begins in 1938 just as Britain teeters on the brink of WW2, as rumours of war begin to filter through, life is about to change for all of Europe.

 

In Mr de Sousa's legacy I take my readers to beautiful Tuscan hills to enjoy the delights of Pisa and the surrounding area just as the country was on the cusp of War.
A few short years later Pisa would be a wounded city as it was bombed on August 31, 1943.  The area was bombed 53 times and 1753 people died over the course of 2 years. 953 of these people died in the first bombing. Over 200,000 houses destroyed. Factories raised to the ground. Three bridges bombed. The monumental cemetery burnt to the ground. But Pisa was not bombed by the Nazis. It was bombed by the Allies.

Although the leaning tower and famous cathedral in the centre of town survived, the cemetery next to them called the Camposanto, seen above, was completely destroyed.

 

 

On July 27, 1944, a wayward Allied bomb started a fire nearby that quickly spread to the Camposanto. The wooden rafters burst into flame and melted the lead on the roof, which dripped down and melted the frescos off the walls and completely destroyed everything inside.

 

Today, work still continues at the Camposanto to restore it. Though it will never be as it was, burnt fragments of the paintings have been pieced back together and can be seen on display. 

 

 

In Florence, Oct 2012, putting the finishing touches to Mr de Sousa's Legacy and doing a bit of sightseeing too.



I have travelled the length and  of Italy, soaking up the culture and delights of this beautiful country, gathering stories to be told. If you want to see why I took my readers to Tuscany, my book Mr de Sousa's Legacy is now available from Waterstones Truro, Cornwall. Any UK Waterstones as a Stock Transfer. Most Amazon sites and Amazon Kindle store.

Kindle Link - read the first three chapters free.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DS6DO6A/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk
Amazon Paperback link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1490930760/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

Thank you for reading.

Original oil painting by © Robert Floyd