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ExpatWomen: Penelope, congratulations on the success of your first book, When In Rome: Chasing la dolce vita, which won the Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards (Australia). You write with a very lively and captivating style. I confess that I was drawn into your story in the very first chapter. With such a natural talent, had you always aspired to write your own book?
Penelope: Hello and thank you! To answer your question, no, I had never aspired to write a book, though from an early age I used to bash an old typewriter – I was obsessed with writing letters to my older sisters, and quite frankly to anyone! One of my sisters is adamant that, a few days before I left Australia for Italy, I declared ‘I'm going to learn the (Italian) language and write a book”, but I have no memory of uttering such a phrase, and if I did I would have been joking. In reality, writing long emails home in my first months in Italy, a few friends said I was mad not to put it all down on paper. In any event, I kept a diary. Then, by chance, I wrote a story for an Australian magazine about my experience in a new country and the response was immediate – within a couple of weeks I had a contract to write a book. Crazy stuff.
ExpatWomen: Your book follows your physical and emotional journey to Rome – looking for something that you weren't finding at home in your chic PR (Public Relations) job. Many women dream of taking the leap of faith that you did – leaving home with no job to go to in your new location. What do you think were your strongest driving factors and what kept you going when times got tough? |
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Penelope: My own stubbornness to chase a dream that I had nursed for too many years, and the warmth of the Italians, whose generosity generally knows no bounds. When times were tough – when I was reduced by frustration at not speaking the language as well as I had hoped, and by the sensation of not knowing why I was bothering to try and learn it with no apparent goal in sight, all I had to do was talk to my best friends and family, who basically reminded me quick smart that I could always come home, and did I know how many people would kill to do what I was doing? I'd then take myself on a huge walk of Rome to give myself a wake up call. It's normal to go through more than a few down periods, the important thing is to be aware of what the triggers are and know how to combat them. For me, just sitting in the piazza of the Pantheon, my favourite building by far in Rome, was calming in itself, giving me the reality check I needed. |
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ExpatWomen: I loved your comments at the end of your book, which I am sure echo the experiences of many expatriate women:
"There is still so much I don't comprehend about Italy and its complicated web of history, politics, culture and art, and the language I find so beguiling and so frustrating. But that's precisely the point. I've never felt happier because I am so challenged. Each day brings a new reality to face and a new subject to wrap my head around linguistically and culturally. I don't know how long I will stay here or how long my visa saga will stretch on. Maybe in a year I'll be tearing my hair out and booking a plane ticket home. But for now I can't get enough of Rome”.
Penelope, did you meet many other expatriate women who had reached the same level of inner peace about your new location, or did you find that it was more common to meet women still in search of an elusive Italian dream? |
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Penelope: I don't know whether I've met any woman – expatriate or not, in any city – who has reached definitive inner peace, surely life would be incredibly dull! Seriously, I think a common trait of the 30-something age bracket is perennial restlessness, generally stemming from so many choices and options that our predecessors didn't have to consider. Restlessness drove me to Rome, and I was lucky enough to be able to burn up all that agitated energy in facing the challenge of simply surviving in a new city – learning a new language, finding work, making friends etc. It took me a good three years to find my feet and, only then, yes, a sense of inner peace - because a part of that is obviously linked to a sense of achievement. Everyone is different, but I think the trick to life is to keep busy and strive to do things that make you feel alive in every sense.
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ExpatWomen: Three years after you arrived to live in Rome, you packed up your bags and moved to Naples, in Italy's south. Can you share with our audience why you uprooted your life and moved out of Rome? |
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Penelope: Just after the publication of When In Rome, I returned to the Italian capital and had just found a new home when I was offered a job in Naples as a journalist on an Italian news website. It was a hard decision to make, since it took considerable time to feel at home in Rome, but I was also ready for a new challenge. I have always loved the dark side of life, crime and so forth, from a journalistic perspective, and Naples has one of the worst reputations in Italy in that respect. So, I admit I was drawn there for all the wrong reasons… |
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ExpatWomen: Following up from the success of your first book, you released this year your second book entitled See Naples and Die: The Crimes and Passions of Italy's Darkest Jewel. The title is certainly a conversation-stopper. Where did the title come from? |
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Penelope: In reality, it wasn't set in stone that the book would actually have a subtitle, but I wanted one to explain the complex nature of Naples. Hence, the title encapsulates how I see the city – while it has an unfortunate crime rate, due largely to the ‘camorra' (the Neapolitan version of Sicily's mafia), it has even more passion – for food and a hedonistic life, and so much more. Thus, Naples is Italy's darkest jewel – the latter also because it has the most beautiful panorama in Italy, if not the world, and has so much to offer the visitor. That's why Goethe said ‘See Naples and Die'', because you really haven't truly lived if you haven't seen Naples. |
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ExpatWomen: From all of your experience in Rome and Naples, what would be your top five pieces of advice for women thinking of following in your footsteps? |
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Penelope:
1. Don't be scared to follow your dreams, even if everyone else thinks you are crazy.
2. Never think you are too ‘old' to do something. I have seen female backpackers aged 70 who have been on the road for three years and have more energy than me, because the more you live life the more energy you have.
3. Follow your instincts – always. If you have a bad feeling about something follow your intuition. If you realize you have made an error of judgement you can always try and reverse the situation later.
4. If you are in a foreign-language country, avoid hanging out with people who speak your language and mix as much as you can with the locals - you will never feel at home until you have a good command of the language in your new chosen home, and
5. Don't be afraid of failure or making a fool of yourself. Life is all about experimenting, and if you say no to things you will never know where life may have taken you. |
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ExpatWomen: Thank you very much Penelope. We wish you great success with your new book! |
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December 2007 |
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