The Italian Wedding - Tapa dura

Settled in London and with their own delicious slice of home in the form of Beppi's restaurant, 'Little Italy', the Martinelli's are a typical Italian family; fighting, eating and loving in equal measure.

Now, Pieta's sister Addolorata is getting married. Since Pieta is a bridal designer it falls to her to make the wedding gown. But she is distracted by a series of family mysteries. Why is her father feuding with another Italian in the neighbourhood? Why is her mother so faded and sad? And could the man she's always held a torch for really be getting married to someone else? As Pieta stitches and beads her sister's wedding gown she uncovers the secrets that have made her family what it is and that stand between her and happiness.

The Italian Wedding is a feast of food and love. It's about discovering who your family really are. And who you really want to be.

When Nicky Pellegrino's Italian father came to England he fell in love with and married a Liverpool girl. He brought to his new family his passion for food and instilled in them what all Italians know - that you live to eat instead of eating to live. This Italian mantra is the inspiration behind Nicky's delicious novels. Every summer the family left their home in Merseyside and returned to her father's home town, near Naples, in southern Italy. When Nicky met and married a New Zealander she moved to Auckland where she works as a journalist and edits a woman's magazine. She hoards her annual leave so that she and her husband can return to Italy to meet up with her family and to eat the best mozzarella and research her books.

www.nickypellegrino.com