A Summer in Europe Adventure: The Isle of Capri

by Marilyn Brant

Many thanks to Susan and everyone here at The Stiletto Gang for inviting me for a visit!! It’s wonderful to be back with you all!

Today is the release day for my third women's fiction book from Kensington, A Summer in Europe, and I’m SO excited about it! To celebrate, I’ve been taking a journey around the web…and talking about some of my favorite European sites, specifically the ones that appear in the story. I thought I’d share a few personal memories of places I loved. Places that left their mark, not only on my heart and soul, but also inspired my writing.

This novel is about a character named Gwendolyn Reese, who gets a month-long tour through Europe as a 30th birthday gift from her eccentric Aunt Bea and her aunt's Sudoku-and-Mahjongg Club. She's hesitant to leave Iowa and her insurance-agent boyfriend behind for the summer, but she's never had an adventure overseas before and is soon convinced to go. Before long, she finds herself in Italy, and the adventure begins!

One of the places in the book that became the site of a turning-point scene for Gwen was her visit to the gorgeous Isle of Capri. It was a place I’d heard about only vaguely until my husband and I went there as part of a tour of Italy when I was about 24. Like my character, I only spent a day on the island, but the beauty of the place stayed with me. Even now…almost 20 years later.

 

The first thing about Capri that jumped out at me was the brightly colored flowers. There was a Southern gentleman on the tour with us who knew about gardening in a way I most certainly did not (I’ve got the two biggest black thumbs in the Midwest, LOL), and he told me that they were called “Bougainvillea.” Until then, I’d never heard of these plants, but they became my immediate favorites. So unbelievably vibrant! (My husband took this shot of the Bougainvillea-lined walking path -- isn’t it lovely?)

But it wasn’t just the flora that struck me as amazing. It was the fact that, while the island was covered with so much beauty, the sea around the island was equally stunning. Capri is just a short ferry ride from the coastal Italian city of Sorrento, and the waters are warm and semi-tropical, especially in summer. Tourists would line up to visit the Blue Grotto, a sea cave and admire the incredibly blue water inside of it, thanks to a lovely trick of the light.

Another memorable thing about the island was all the walking paths. Many were not as seemingly level as the one in my husband’s photo. There were quite a few steep slopes and staircases, which gave us a good cardio workout while we were there! Despite the physical exertion, however, we would have loved to have stayed longer, if we could have afforded it. As it was, though, the day trip was very memorable and, in picturing my character there, I got to imagine myself running down the staircases, gazing out at the beautiful water and breathing in the Bougainvillea-scented air, too.

And aren’t moments like that one of the many joys of being a writer?!

If you’re a travel lover like me, my book tour/grand European adventure continues on, with the current itinerary set to include:

Friday 11/25: Rome at Magical Musings 
Monday 11/28: Pompeii at SOS Aloha 

Tuesday 11/29: Isle of Capri at the Stiletto Gang 

Wednesday 11/30: Venice at Girlfriends Book Club
Thursday 12/1: Budapest at Women's Fiction Writers
Friday 12/2: Florence at Writer Unboxed
Monday 12/5: London at Austen Authors
Tuesday 12/6: Salzburg at Robin Bielman's blog
Wednesday 12/7: Lake Como at Brant Flakes

And I'll be featuring other cities in the days and weeks following, too, such as Pisa, Zermatt, Vienna, Nice, Brussels and Paris. (The full list of travel stops will be frequently updated on my website. I hope you'll join me for a few other cities on the tour!! And if you'd like to read an excerpt from A Summer in Europe, which is a Literary Guild and Rhapsody Book Club featured alternate selection for December 2011, you can find one here:  http://www.marilynbrant.com/MBbooksEURO.html  

"Brant's newest...distinguishes itself with a charismatic leading man and very funny supporting cast, especially the wonderful elderly characters with their resonant message about living life to the fullest." ~Publishers Weekly

"Brant's charming and engaging tale will allow readers to immerse themselves in the magic and beauty of Europe along with the characters. Although the descriptions of the scenery are amazing, the development of the characters and their unique personalities are what really make this novel shine. What an enjoyable escape!" ~Romantic Times

Do you have a favorite flowering plant? Have you ever been to place far from home and encountered some particularly beautiful vegetation? I’d love to hear about it. And if you’ve ever visited Italy or the Isle of Capri, I’d love to hear about that, too!

**WIN A HOT-OFF-THE-PRESS COPY OF A SUMMER IN EUROPE!!!  Just leave a comment below through midnight today, and Marilyn will randomly draw a name.  Please include an email address so we can get in touch with you should you win the book.  Good luck, everyone!