Born in Manchester in 1954, Tim Parks moved permanently to Italy in 1980. Author of novels, non-fiction and essays, he has won the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Llewellyn Rhys awards, and been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.His works include Destiny, Europa, Dreams of Rivers and Seas and the 'Italian series': Italian Neighbours, An Italian Education and A Season with Verona.
Instead of travelling through Italy, Parks settled into it. He writes of the 'luminous, breathless heat' of an Italian summer's evening, and watches as ten-year-old bones are dug up to make more room in the cemetery. He learns not to request a cappuccino after 10.30am and that, as a new father, his first duty is to pin a blue or pink rosette on his house in a prominent position so that people will learn the good news. (Kirkus UK)