Autrice
I was born in Milan in the middle of a sultry day many years ago. I studied at the classical liceo (grammar school) “G. Berchet”, without either shame or glory. Then, at last free to devote myself to my real passion, I enrolled in University where, between one demonstration and another (these were the years between 1969 and 1973), I graduated in the History of Art Criticism with a research thesis on Italian advertising posters, a subject that was still almost unheard of at the time. After various experiences in advertising agencies and press offices, I decided to change to journalism.
For the next twenty years I wrote. I interviewed hundreds of people in the fields of art, photography, lifestyle, reporting on exhibitions and significant events on the panorama of Milanese culture; I published articles and books on some of the most important religious and civic monuments in Milan. I have always tried to convey a vivid image of what I was researching, whether it was a famous illustrator or the history of a century-old basilica. When writing, I was careful to avoid the much abused language of the experts, preferring instead a more direct and journalistic style of communication, which might attract the curiosity of readers and draw them in. Many appreciated this decision, maintaining that this sensitivity of mine towards places and people was conveyed to them by empathy, with no filters in between. This way of expression made me want to try other paths and so, with the presumption typical of the unprepared, I tried my hand at what is perhaps the most difficult genre of all, the novel.
It took me three years to complete the first (“Il mercante di lana” / “The Wool Merchant,” Piemme, 2001), which, surprisingly, was published in less than six months and met with immediate acclaim from both public and critics. At this point, though with a delay I can only blame on myself, I realized that my real profession was writing. In the next ten years the novels “Il signore del falco” / “The Lord of the Falcon” (Piemme, 2003), “Il monaco inglese” / “The English Monk” (Rizzoli), “Il manoscritto dell’imperatore” / “The Emperor’s Manuscript” (Rizzoli, 2008) and “La ribelle” / “The Rebel” (Rizzoli 2011) were published. All my novels are set in medieval times, around the middle of the twelve-hundreds. The backgrounds alternate between the well-appointed castles of Val d’Aosta, the lanes and monasteries of Milan at the time of the communes, the farms of Lombardy and the crowded neighbourhoods of Paris, frequented by noisy Sorbonne students.
I cannot explain the interest that arose in me halfway through my life for such a far-off period of history: what is certain is that the study of what went on in those years aroused my interest and intrigued me to the extent of convincing me that, despite the many intervening centuries, there are still several similarities to the present. Even though our living conditions have improved, the future is as uncertain as it was then, our fears are similar, the causes of war remain unchanged. And these similarities were what inspired me when sketching my characters: without their medieval clothing, it is possible to see in them the wheelers and dealers, the nouveau-riches, the heads of the people or the women who, today as in the past, fight to establish their dignity.
My private life is quite routine. I have a husband who has shared love and difficulties with me for thirty years, a daughter, now an adult, to whom I am bound by deep affection and great respect. For seventeen years we enjoyed the company of Skye, our poodle. When her life came to an end, we could not bear the emptiness she left behind and adopted another. She, too, is black and her name is Kilda.
For the next twenty years I wrote. I interviewed hundreds of people in the fields of art, photography, lifestyle, reporting on exhibitions and significant events on the panorama of Milanese culture; I published articles and books on some of the most important religious and civic monuments in Milan. I have always tried to convey a vivid image of what I was researching, whether it was a famous illustrator or the history of a century-old basilica. When writing, I was careful to avoid the much abused language of the experts, preferring instead a more direct and journalistic style of communication, which might attract the curiosity of readers and draw them in. Many appreciated this decision, maintaining that this sensitivity of mine towards places and people was conveyed to them by empathy, with no filters in between. This way of expression made me want to try other paths and so, with the presumption typical of the unprepared, I tried my hand at what is perhaps the most difficult genre of all, the novel.
It took me three years to complete the first (“Il mercante di lana” / “The Wool Merchant,” Piemme, 2001), which, surprisingly, was published in less than six months and met with immediate acclaim from both public and critics. At this point, though with a delay I can only blame on myself, I realized that my real profession was writing. In the next ten years the novels “Il signore del falco” / “The Lord of the Falcon” (Piemme, 2003), “Il monaco inglese” / “The English Monk” (Rizzoli), “Il manoscritto dell’imperatore” / “The Emperor’s Manuscript” (Rizzoli, 2008) and “La ribelle” / “The Rebel” (Rizzoli 2011) were published. All my novels are set in medieval times, around the middle of the twelve-hundreds. The backgrounds alternate between the well-appointed castles of Val d’Aosta, the lanes and monasteries of Milan at the time of the communes, the farms of Lombardy and the crowded neighbourhoods of Paris, frequented by noisy Sorbonne students.
I cannot explain the interest that arose in me halfway through my life for such a far-off period of history: what is certain is that the study of what went on in those years aroused my interest and intrigued me to the extent of convincing me that, despite the many intervening centuries, there are still several similarities to the present. Even though our living conditions have improved, the future is as uncertain as it was then, our fears are similar, the causes of war remain unchanged. And these similarities were what inspired me when sketching my characters: without their medieval clothing, it is possible to see in them the wheelers and dealers, the nouveau-riches, the heads of the people or the women who, today as in the past, fight to establish their dignity.
My private life is quite routine. I have a husband who has shared love and difficulties with me for thirty years, a daughter, now an adult, to whom I am bound by deep affection and great respect. For seventeen years we enjoyed the company of Skye, our poodle. When her life came to an end, we could not bear the emptiness she left behind and adopted another. She, too, is black and her name is Kilda.