Another novel on the way!

yes, it’s true! An idea came to me and I’ve written over 50,000 words of my first draft already. I am so enjoying writing it because there are such funny parts to it…as there are tragic and painful ones, too.

Jake from The Purple Rose appears again, as does Trish, but that is the only direct connection. They are both adults and students in Italy for their language degrees who they meet there quite by chance, after ten years of being out of touch with each other. Reminders of the previous novel do appear from time to time in reminiscences and in emails Jake sends to his parents and sister.

There is an eclectic group of students with Jake,out in Umbria, who make up an colourful tapestry of characters, not least Zany, the hijab-wearing girl for whom Jake falls totally and impossibly in love. Trish, for her part seeks out undiscovered Jewish artefacts from the lost Jewish communities who lived  in Umbria and Tuscany in the 16th and 17th centuries. As well as that, Jake’s interest in football takes him face to face with the infamously extremist, hooligan gangs of Italian football fans. These three plot strands affect Jake’s erstwhile disaffection from Judaism – and the unexpected result of his relationship with Zany makes him take stock.