LOVES & MIRACLES OF PISTOLA
ALSO BY HILARY PRENDINI TOFFOLI
Who’s Really Who in South Africa, with Gus Silber
Published in 2020 by Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd
Company Reg No 1953/000441/07
The Estuaries No 4, Oxbow Crescent, Century Avenue, Century City, 7441, South Africa
PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
© 2020 Hilary Prendini Toffoli
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
First edition, first printing 2020
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
ISBN 978-1-4859-0433-5 (Print)
ISBN 978-1-4859-0454-0 (ePub)
Cover design by Caterina Toffoli Metcalfe
Cover images: Italy map by Nata K. Art, olive oil bottle by Vector_Ann, olive branch in front of bottle by Elena Medveva, all Shuttestock; grapes by Rawpixel.com, Freepik; bicycle by Chris Barbalis, cypress trees with walking woman by Clay Banks, olive branches by Frank Albrecht, all Unsplash; girl on Vespa: vintage Vespa service manual
Text design by Fahiema Hallam
Set in Minion Pro
To my husband Emilio, a never-ending
source of inspiration.
Contents
Chapter One: Pigs, Love, and a Bride Bereft
Chapter Two: An All-consuming Passion
Chapter Three: Murder in the Maize Fields
Chapter Four: Bones of Long-dead Soldiers
Chapter Five: A Kiss to Regret Forever
Chapter Six: Honeyed Words to Charm a Woman
Chapter Seven: A Devious Bridegroom’s Last Trick
Chapter Eight: Dignified Corpse, Decorative Widow
Chapter Nine: Family Secrets Uncovered
Chapter Ten: The Brotherhood of Man
Chapter Eleven: A Butcher in the Family
Chapter Twelve: Big Train from the North
Chapter Thirteen: A Cataclysmic Moment
Chapter Fourteen: The Metropolis of Anonymity
Chapter Fifteen: My Uncle, the Crook
Chapter Sixteen: Lust and Mischief in Cinecittà
Chapter Seventeen: Fear, Fury, and Mortification
Chapter Eighteen: Another Death in the Maize Fields
Chapter Nineteen: Tears and Loathing at the Graveyard
Chapter Twenty: Old Stones and Old Bones
Chapter Twenty-one: A Terrifying Opportunity in a Strange Land
Chapter Twenty-two: A Wedding to Break a Boy’s Heart
Chapter Twenty-three: The Truth about his Mother
Chapter Twenty-four: Over the Ocean Blue
Chapter Twenty-five: Lust in a Lifeboat
Chapter Twenty-six: Uitlanders Causing Trouble
Chapter Twenty-seven: Unfulfilled Expectations
Chapter Twenty-eight: An Invitation He Can’t Refuse
Chapter Twenty-nine: A Place Called Sophiatown
Chapter Thirty: Kisses from His Favourite Cousin
Chapter Thirty-one: Colonialism and Unfettered Rage
Chapter Thirty-two: Double-thick Chocolate Malted
