I know the bare bones of my story and what I’m looking for. Now it’s time to take my notebook and pen and go to the Italian Riviera with my photographer (my husband Grey) to capture the flavours I need to experience in person to write The Lemon Tree Hotel.
The Lemon Tree Hotel
We fly to Pisa, but leave out the touristy bits and head for the River Arno. I’m looking for an apartment for my character Alonzo - it helps to use a real place as a template so that I can describe it in detail. The photos are invaluable too; later, I will match these up with my notes in order to write the scene.
In my notebook, I describe the view from ‘Alonzo’s house’. He can see the broad silky ribbon of the water, the earth-toned palaces of ochre, rust and green on the riverbank and the little church in the distance. I might need this detail later – maybe he’ll walk over to the window and look out? I won’t be able to conjure up the view from my study in Dorset – so I need to get it into words here and now.
My character, Chiara, visits Alonzo here. They have a row, she rushes off and I imagine her half-running to the nearby Piazza Garibaldi for a recuperative brandy. We follow her, me scribbling all the while. Chiara is upset, having made a shocking discovery about an apartment Alonzo rents out in Pisa.
We go in search of a suitably run-down building, taking Chiara’s route from the station. I make notes as we pass a palace and a piazza, I write down everything that Chiara will see. Do people wonder if we have some sinister motive as we loiter with camera and notebook? It doesn’t appear so.
We travel by train to Vernazza, one of the cinque terre, five villages built on terraced hillsides. My fictional family live in The Lemon Tree Hotel, so we take the coastal path looking for a possible location on the hillside. Grey take photos of the hotel’s potential view. I note down details – the prickly pears and juniper growing on the edge of the cliff, the scent of mountain thyme in the air, the texture of thick olive leaves, and the rumble of the ocean below. I need to get all the senses down on the page for later.
I think of Chiara walking down the steep path through chestnut trees to the clutter of rooftops that is Vernazza - as we do the same. At every twist and turn, Chiara will catch a tantalising snatch of the clear blue ocean – just as we do.
Every walk takes twice the time when I’m stopping to make notes…
In the book, Isabella and Ferdinand will walk up to the Sanctuary, I decide. As we too walk this ancient pilgrims’ route dotted with shrines, I experience something more intangible. It’s the sense of tranquillity that seems to hang in the air amidst the wise olive trees. How can I capture that? But when we reach the Sanctuary, there’s an oak tree with a bench underneath its spread-eagled branches. I sit, open my notebook and try to find words to express what I’m feeling.
After a few weeks my notebook bulging with information, observations and experiences, it’s time to leave Italy. I have the images, I have the sensory detail – now I just have to write the book…
The Lemon Tree Hotel by Rosanna Ley will be published by Quercus in paperback on 13th June, £7.99