This weekend marks one month from Breakthrough Books’ release of That Summer in Puglia‘s second edition, in paperback and on Kindle. The first edition was launched in 2018 at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival and had three print runs. I hope the book will continue finding its way into readers’ hands far and wide.
I’m grateful to Stephanie Bretherton, Breakthrough Books‘ editor, who is a joy to work with, and to Jamie Chipperfield for his gorgeous cover design, which captures the nostalgia of the narrating protagonist, Tommaso. Breakthrough Books will also be publishing my second book Habit of Disobedience, later this year – it’s a historical novel inspired by events that took place in Puglia in the 1500s.
Breakthrough Books held a ‘countdown’ for the release, on several social media. Here, a few images.
Other posts, including two short extracts from the novel, have followed over the last thirty days.
On publication day, I was… in my native Brindisi! That’s where a key section of the novel is set, while most of the story takes place in Ostuni, just 35 km up the Adriatic coast. Behind me in this photo you see Brindisi harbour: it isn’t just beautiful; it has also ‘seen’ major historic events over the last couple of thousand years (that would take a whole other blog post!). In this photo I’m the happy holder of a proof of the book! 😉
If you happen to be in or near Lucerne in Switzerland (where I now live), come to the event organised for 12 June by Terranova Bücherparadies, a super-lovely bookshop that stocks titles in several languages. My interviewer will be Dr Monica Tiffany, lecturer in Literature and Philosophy.
And if you’d like to get hold of the novel, you’ll find it wherever you usually buy your books! Here, just a few places:
- Amazon (worldwide, from its country-specific sites)
- Waterstones (UK)
- Blackwell’s (UK)
- Barnes & Noble (US)
- If you are in Ostuni, where most of That Summer in Puglia unfolds, you’ll find copies at the wonderful Bottega del Libro, an amazing independent bookshop
- If you’re in nearby Monopoli instead, the Libreria Minopolis is the go-to place!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this short write-up about the newly released edition and that you’ll enjoy the novel even more, if you haven’t read it yet!
Valeria Vescina 