BOOK REVIEW - "PESCE D'APRILE"

Pesce d'aprile: Lo scherzo del destino che ci ha reso più forti by Daniela Spada
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The name Cesare Bocci is not a household one in English-speaking countries, but if I were to say "Mimì Augello" and post a picture of Cesare, many of you would recognise him as the actor who plays Montalbano's deputy.

It is often true that we can look at people, particularly celebrities, and think that everything must be fine in their lives but we usually have no idea what those lives are really like. Until I read an interview with Cesare Bocci and his partner Daniela Spada in an Italian TV listings magazine, I had no idea what they had been through in the last 16 years:

This part of their story begins in Rome on 1st April 2000. The day before, they had brought their newborn baby, Mia, home and today all is well until suddenly Daniela cries out that she has a terrible headache. Her condition worsens with terrifying speed and she is rushed to hospital, where the doctors are convinced that she is having a panic attack after a row with Cesare, who has to fight to get her seen by a neurologist. She has suffered a massive stroke. She lies in a coma for 20 days and when she wakes, her body has changed forever and , though she recognises Cesare as someone she loves, her memory is affected. Tragically, she cannot hold her baby daughter.

What follows is the story of Daniela's long road back, Cesare's unstinting support , the family and friends who in turn support him, his battles with hospital staff and bureaucracy alike and the bond that grows between him and his daughter. Cesare at last finds an Austrian doctor who treats Daniela as a human being first and a patient second and this proves to be the turning point. Slowly, and with great determination, Daniela is rehabilitated, not to her old life, but to a life which she can lead. There are still heartbreaking moments, such as those which describe the reactions of strangers to her disabilities or when she thinks of all the things she will never be able to do for her daughter. However,

"Never, never give up", she says, and Cesare says of her,

"Daniela taught me that, in difficult times, your uncertainties, fears and frustration can bury you or they can motivate you to start again."

Daniela Spada decided to think of sweet things so as not to think of her illness and became a cook and pastry chef. She now runs a cookery school, which she insists has the atmosphere of a welcoming family kitchen, in Rome.

This book is for anyone who has suffered, or been close to someone who has suffered, a stroke or other brain injury. It is also for everyone who has ever kept a long vigil at the bedside of a loved one, not knowing if they will wake up, or who has had to make a hospital corridor their home. It is, above all, a story of courage, determination and of course, love and so it is a book for all of us.

Note:  Pesce d'aprile = April fool

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IN WHICH I SUCCUMB.....

I have been fighting a cold for a few days - ever since, on Saturday, we experienced what Sicilians term "a hurricane" but would just be thought of as " a bit of wind and a shower or two" back in Cardiff, UK.  The lack of proper double glazing and the ease with which water seeps through balcony shutters makes for miserable conditions indoors though nothing, of course, like those caused by the floods taking place in some areas of Britain at the moment.

Yesterday my cold developed into what I had to admit is la febbre and, according to Sicilians, this means I should be in bed under a pile of blankets and hotwater bottles. However, I am still British enough to defy them right up to head-spinning point and then even I had to come home, cuddle up with Simi and give in gracefully.

While I was perusing some death proverbs for Monday's post, I came across a few to do with illness that made me smile and here they are:

Cattaru, vinu cu lu carru - For catarrh, you need wine by the cartload.

Marva ti sarva - Mallow will save you [also said about sage in some versions].

Ogghiu di cumuni, sana ogni dolore - Normal olive oil cures everything.

Cu havi a frevi,  macari u meli ci sapi amari - Even honey tastes bitter if you have a fever.

Pri la rifriddatura cci voli nidi di picciuna - To get rid of a cold, you need a pigeon's nest [ie., the warmth of your bed].

And finally, just to cheer myself up as I edge nearer to my three-score and ten:

Quannu lu mali è 'nvicchiutu, mancu Ippocrati cci pò dari aiuti - When the sick person is old, not even Hippocrates can help him.

LIFE EXPECTANCY HIGHER IN SICILY

According to statistics released last week Sicilian women may now expect to live until they are 83 and men until  they are 78. This represents increases of 1.3% and 1.6% respectively as compared with 2004.

Circulatory disease is the main cause of death in Sicily for both sexes and the figure, at 43%, is higher than the national average. The second most common cause of death is cancer, presenting as breast cancer in women and colon or rectal cancer in men.

If I may make a totally personal and medically unfounded observation on this point, I have noticed quite a high instance of colonic illness even in my immediate circle and it is my theory that, despite the Arabic influences of their past, the fact that Sicilians have not adopted more of the spice cookery of the Mediterranean may play a part here.

However, there is hope for those who live in Ispica [a little town about 10 minutes from Modica]:

"Chi viene a Ispica compierà 100 anni - Those who come to Ispica will live to the age of 100."

I hope that residence is not a qualification and that my occasional visits will suffice.

LA FEBBRE

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I have been struck down by la febbre, so there was no posting here yesterday.  La febbre in Sicily describes anything from the merest hint of a cold to full-blown 'flu and I rather think I have got the latter.

If you live in Sicily and haven't caught la febbre at this time of year, you are probably suffering from the cervicale instead. This is arthritis of the neck and both conditions are blamed upon seasonal humidity.  In my opinion much suffering could be avoided if Sicilians would only put the heating on in their houses but most prefer to sit around at home in jackets and woolly hats.  Cold, it seems, is something to be endured with pazienza rather than combatted.

As for what to do about la febbre, it is believed here that you should sweat it out and I felt like one of Grazia's loaves as I lay under my blankets this morning.  There are many folk remedies, too and one of these is to cut off some of the hairy leaves of the tasso barbasso [verbascum] plant with your left hand whilst making the sign of the cross in the air with your left foot.  While you are coordinating your movements and attempting to keep your balance, you must also utter a dialect incantation to make the fever leave you.

Hmm - it's back under the blankets for me!