A character interview with Holly from the novel
Sign of the Times by
Susan Buchanan
Holly, travel writer extraordinaire and heroine of Sign of
the Times, kindly agreed to be interviewed on one of her very favourite topics,
travel!
Q: Hi Holly, welcome and thanks for agreeing to talk to us
about your favourite topic.
H: Well, it’s no secret that I am a bit of a travel nut. I
have the best job in the world and thank my lucky stars every day for it. My
latest book, as yet untitled, is set in Tuscany, but I’d like to keep that
under wraps for now. I will say, however, that there are lots of stunning
places to be uncovered and you’ll be able to pick it up soon for around ten
pounds.
Q? So can you tell us about your previous books?
H: Sure. Secrets of
the Neapolitan Riveria was a bold step for me to take. I’d only recently
ventured into travel writing, but I caught a lucky break and the book and the
TV series that followed became a huge success. Here’s hoping the same is true
of the new one! If you’re not familiar
with the area, the Neapolitan Riviera, an amazing region, contains some of the
most beautiful spots in Italy: the charming town of Pisa, with its leaning
tower; every art lover’s dream - the city of Florence; Sorrento and the amazing
Bay of Naples, as well as quite possibly Italy’s shadiest city - Naples.
Fortunately it has the saving grace of having absolutely amazing food. Not to mention the fabulous city of Pompeii -
it really does humble you and I swear, when you are there, you really feel as
if you have travelled back through the centuries. Be warned, though, take water
with you. I suffered from serious
sunburn and dehydration. You simply don’t realise how hot it is and because you
are so awestruck, time passes very quickly.
Q: So what does Secrets
of the Neapolitan Riviera cover that other travel guides of that area
don’t?
H: Well, naturally there will be some overlap with other
guides, but I spent over a year visiting villages there and when I visited the
cities, I didn’t focus on the Uffizi art
gallery in Florence or any of the other big hitters. I went behind the scenes,
to places where I wouldn’t find tourists. Often you only need to go two streets
away from the main drag and you will find restaurants overflowing with
Italians, with virtually no tourists - they’re not brave enough, as they’d need
to speak Italian. Being fluent certainly
has its advantages! Plus I didn’t
concentrate solely on places of interest, but gathered stories from street
vendors, old men sitting in squares, Italian mamme cooking. There’s a bit of historical info in the book, too,
about each area, very local to those villages which are covered in the book,
but done in a new and I hope interesting way.
