It’s got all of the elements my novels have: friendship, food, family, Italy, sunshine.
What are you looking forward to doing in Whanganui?
It’s a long time since I’ve been to Whanganui. I came down years ago for a book festival and went for a big walk down by the river, so I’d like to do that, just explore the little artsy places.
I love going to places and just exploring and walking and seeing what’s there, so I’m definitely going to have some time for that. I also find walking is a really good time to think, so I’ll often go when I’m stuck with a book. I’m hoping to get some writing done while I’m on this book tour, so I’ll be going for walks to work through bits of the plot in my brain. So if people see a distracted, very tall person pacing around, that’ll be me.
What would your perfect meal be?
It would definitely involve fresh buffalo mozzarella from southern Italy, because it’s my favourite thing. And then some sort of delicious pasta dish and maybe some sort of seafood. They’d have to be quite small courses because I want a lot of things. I really like what we call in Italy an eggplant parmigiana, which is essentially the unhealthiest thing you can do to a vegetable. I’d probably be too full for dessert but I’d want some sort of delicious wine; maybe a negroni to start, because that’s my favourite cocktail.
It would be nice to have a great big Italian lunch with one of those great big long tables and all of my friends and family I don’t get to see because they live overseas. No famous people, because then you’d have to be on your best behaviour.
Which of your books has been your favourite to write?
I think Marry Me in Italy has been my favourite because it’s quite funny. It’s not “lay down on the floor crying with laughter” funny, but I think it’s a book that’s got a couple of supporting characters who’ll make readers smile, I hope. One of the characters has been in a couple of books because my characters gatecrash books. I don’t always intend to put them in but they appear and take over.
I really miss the characters. I’m writing a new book and it’s set in a different place with completely different people, and I’m missing the characters from Marry Me in Italy. I just enjoyed their company.
Would you want any of your books turned into films?
I’m in two minds about this. First of all, I think it’s fine for a book to just be a book, and sometimes when I’ve watched films of books I’ve loved, I feel let down because it’s not what I imagined in my head. It would have to be a really amazing film. I think the book I am currently working on would make a fantastic movie, but I can’t tell you about it yet because I’ve only written 15,000 words.
What habits have you picked up from Italian life and brought back to New Zealand?
Coffee, definitely, but I think that’s also a New Zealand thing. We’ve got better coffee than Italy – don’t tell the Italians. Food is so important to the Italians, and it’s not complicated MasterChef cooking; it’s often quite simple and they use really good ingredients. It’s important to them to have something really delicious for every meal.
They don’t tend to sit and watch TV while they eat their meals, they sit around a table. So I think that’s probably the thing. Even if it’s just me and my husband, we always sit at the table and have a bit of a conversation over dinner and a glass of wine, obviously, and make it a bit of a moment to connect with people.
Nicky Pellegrino will be at the Whanganui District Library at 7pm on Tuesday, October 22 with the Whanganui Booklovers Festival to celebrate the launch of Marry Me in Italy.
Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
