I started this book with a lot of expectations: I am a huge fan of Donna Leon’s novels and her famous character, Inspector Brunetti. I devoured all his investigations and I think I could be friends with his wife, Paola. Like all fans, I salivated reading the descriptions of the meals that the caustically humorous literature professor cooked for her family. I even bought the recipe book published in 2018!
So I hoped to discover lots of tasty details about the underside of Donna Leon’s investigations and about her life in Venice, where her intrigues unfold. Unfortunately, we have to wait halfway through the book for the author to finally talk about Italy. The first half is devoted to her other stays abroad – Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, etc. – where the American from New Jersey taught English. I would have picked up many more stories and anecdotes about the manners and customs of the Venetians and the people who inspired Leon over the decades.
The writer finally left the Serenissima, disgusted by mass tourism, to settle in Switzerland. She ends her book with a few strong paragraphs about old age and ageism, but in the end, I was left wanting more.
A promise of adventure – Memoirs
Calmann Levy
215 pages