I first read this book in March and April 2022. I wanted to re-read parts of it that mentioned Pescara, which is where we're going on holiday this August. I searched through the book on Kindle and bookmarked all the chapters that mentioned Pescara, re-read them all, and then read continuously from "Il cambio della guardia" to the end (about 100 pages), which describes Tim Parks's visit with his daughter Stefi and son Michele in June 1994.
I really love Tim Parks's non-fiction. This follows on from Italian Neighbours and focuses on the education of his two children (and the imminent arrival of a third). It's about moving to a newly built home an a housing co-operative and his new neighbours there. But, as I said, I was re-reading it for the Pescara mentions, which come early in the book because that's where his in-laws live and where his wife, Rita, is from.
There's nothing particularly remarkable about Pescara as a holiday destination. Sun, sand, sea, Italians at the beach. But Parks make it special and in his inimitable way turns the particular into the whole, somehow giving you a taste of Italian culture and its people. And he does so with such affection and commitment.
A delight to revisit, even if I finished it in the middle of a hot night in May, unable to sleep.