Angela Petch’s gives us a peek into her life in this author reveal piece
Author Angela Petch
1. I had always wanted to write a story about a castle I have driven past in Sant’AgataFeltria, Romagna, Italy. This ancient castle resembles a children’s storybook illustration. It was closed for repairs for several years and I was so disappointed when I eventually visited. Inside did not match up with my imagination, with littlehistorical reference. So, I changed the name to Sant’Agnese and invented my own history.
2. A ginger cat who appears as Tigressa inspired the garden idea, central to the book. I was leaning against the castle wall making notes when she jumped onto a narrow ledge that hangs over a sharp drop. The real castle of Sant’Agata Feltria has no garden but my castle needed one… I imagined the ledge as a path. It is often small things that inspire a writer’s imagination and I am grateful to that ginger cat.
3. The theatre in an important scene featuring partisans, German soldiers and where the heroine, Tina, plays the piano in a concert, is a real place. Teatro Maraini is a seventeenth century gem with painted wooden boxes and I have listened to concerts here and needed it for my story.
4. There might be a smidgeon of myself in Tina, the main character. I too had a very sheltered upbringing, although I didn’t live in a castle, and I often wonder how I would have reacted during World War Two. My parents were both nineteen when war broke out and my father was conscripted and fought in Africa and Italy. However, they hardly spoke about that time. Would I have had the courage to go out on a limb and break away from my safe existence?
5. Mention of formaggio fossa (cheese from the pit) is made when Allegra, the maid and cook at the castle, describes Tina after her illness, when she needs a bath! This cheese is considered a delicacy and is produced in the cellars of Sant’Agata where many houses were constructed on a base of tufa rock. Dating back to the Middle Ages, this was a method used by peasants to preserve their pungent cheeses. They were kept in holes in the tufa for three months…
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