Santa Montefiore, author of An Italian Girl in Brooklyn

Kobo: Why did you decide to write Evelina's story in dual timelines?

Santa Montefiore: I love a dual timeline story—I like to see how the past affects the present, and I enjoy gradually revealing secrets sown in the past. I also enjoy the contrast between the young woman and then the older, wiser woman; it gives me so much to work with. I don’t always write that way, but some stories lend themselves very well to that structure; this book in particular was one of those.

Kobo: Where do you find the inspiration to write your books?

SM: The inspiration for An Italian Girl in Brooklyn came from a friend’s father telling me his mother’s story over dinner. But I get stories from all sorts of different places. Sometimes a title can trigger inspiration, as in The Beekeeper’s Daughter, or a house, as in The Deverill Chronicles. Sometimes I read something in the papers, as in Here and Now, or I simply awake in the middle of the night with an idea. I think just being open to ideas—listening, reading, watching—is key. I’m always on the lookout for a good tale. It’s all about the nugget—once you’ve got the golden nugget, you can wrap an entire novel around it!

Kobo: Who would you cast as Evelina in a movie or television adaptation of An Italian Girl in Brooklyn?

SM: There would have to be two: a young Evelina and an older one. The older one would be Meryl Streep. I mean, if I had the choice, she’d be in every single one of my book-to-film adaptations—she’s a legend. The younger one is more difficult… I’m really not sure! I’d need to find a young Meryl Streep.

Kobo: What research did you do for this book?

SM: I read a lot about the Second World War from the point of view of the Italians. I watched movies like Tea with Mussolini and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (I studied the latter in its book form as a part of my Italian course at university). I read Primo Levi’s harrowing book If This Is a Man and then immersed myself in 1950s America. There are so many films set in that time and books, too. I tend to research while I write, so as I come across things I need to know about, I either go online or buy the DVD or book! Last Voyage of the Valentina was based in Italy during the Second World War, so I already knew quite a lot about it.

Kobo: If you could travel back to one time period you’ve written about, which would it be and why?

SM: Victorian England, but I’d have to be very rich! If you weren’t wealthy, it must have been tough! I do think we have an idealized view of the past though, a nostalgic view—the reality would be quite different. A visit to the dentist would probably propel me back to the present!

Kobo: Name three of your favourite romantic reads.

SM: I have so many! Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Enchanted April, and Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera.