The Memoir

Leaving Azzurro Behind
For the last few months I've been providing sample chapters of 'Leaving Azzurro Behind',  my memoir about coming to Britain from Italy, on this blog.

Well, the whole thing is now available on Amazon, and you can find it here.


Bear in mind, as you read, that I wrote this in 2003 and although the writing itself has been much revised subsequently, the events described are still seen from my perspective in 2003-2005, the self at the time of writing. I was a TV reporter, single and occasionally lonely in the big foreign city, often still pining for the azzurro sky of home. Little did I know what was to become of me a decade on. I'm talking about ‘my life so far’ from a present which is now in the past. 

At one level the book concerns itself with the stuff of real life anywhere – student friendships, family lore, first jobs, flat-shares, house hunting, cowboy builders, bastard boyfriends, nights out, gym visits, other people’s weddings. (I was too young for funerals but if the print version ever comes out there’ll be a chapter on those, I can assure you.)

However, you also get to peek into more unusual places: newspaper offices, TV sets, parliament buildings. It takes you UFO-hunting in Canada’s snowbound wilderness, on secret filming expeditions to Mediterranean zoos, to citizenship ceremonies and residential writing courses. 

History’s low hum sometimes becomes thunder, the Wall comes down, bombs explode in Madrid, then in London and I wonder what I’m doing with my life, my precious yet meaningless life, so far away from home. But the great financial crash of 2008 and subsequent recession and depression, the Euro crisis, the Arab Spring are not yet even glints in the typesetter’s eye. 

This is still a world free of social media networks, austerity and twerking. Let me know if you enjoy it.

Download Leaving Azzurro Behind from Amazon here.

5 comments:

  1. Just the introduction bean. Beautiful. And when you were 15, had you glanced Eastwards along the med. you would have found me about to follow those same steps and have those same feelings. Beautifully put. I look forward to reading the rest xxx

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  2. I like the sound of this and love your blog. Check this out if you are still interested in finding a publisher. http://www.submityourmanuscript.co.uk/ This is a genuine opportunity to bag a book deal, including good royalties and world wide distribution if you can demonstrate demand for your book. Let me know if you need anymore information. Best, Jude x

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    1. Hi Jude, I thought I'd let you know that the memoir is now an e-book on Amazon. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IHXU6QU

      Let me know what you think if you have a chance to read it,

      best
      P

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  3. Thank you Jude, I will look into it!

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