A House Near Luccoli

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Published by All Things That Matter Press

A sensual visit to 17th century Genoa ...

A House Near Luccoli is full of such lovely and lyrical prose which gently transports the reader to 17th century Genoa, Italy. Taking in the author's wonderful words, one can almost smell the gardens and sachets, taste the food and wine, feel the summer heat, see the musical notes being carefully transcribed, the sunshine glittering on the ocean, and hear the exquisite music. Read more ...
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1973
Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.
 ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will.         
                            ~ Goethe

An author...must be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere. 
      ~Gustave Flaubert
Life can't ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer's lover until death - fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous, constant.
                ~Edna Ferber

If case you are wondering ...

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2014
My full name is Diane M Denton (nee DiGiacomo), born and raised in the Buffalo, New York area. At the age of twenty I realized a dream by traveling to England for a semester of study where  impetuously stayed for sixteen years in a yellow-stoned village with thatched cottages, a duck pond, and twelfth century church and abbey turned Jacobean manor house. I lived a life, for better or worse, right off the pages of Fielding, the Brontes, Austin, Hardy, DH Lawrence and even Dickens. During this time, surrounded by the fertile woods and fields of the Oxfordshire countryside,  I befriended the muse of nature and spent much of my time poetizing and painting for personal journals, a little extra cash and the passing of a pastoral but not always idyllic youth.

My writing life began as a child, shy and uncertain and a little lost in the stories that came to me, poetry and art also allowing my (astrologically-speaking) crabby nature to retreat sideways into my appointed sands. My participation in and appreciation of music were inevitable, for although I never knew my grandmother who was a concert pianist, my mother's devoted reminiscences ensured she was a constantly motivating influence. Early interests also included the theater, which as a teenager I felt destined for and even pursued into college. Eventually I had to admit that such an inclination for drama was better written than acted out, my imagination more consistent than my courage.

Which no doubt accounts for my long hesitant journey to the point of publishing, finally overcoming a nervousness to share and risk with the realization that life passes by too quickly not to. If my writing and artwork offer some enjoyment and inspiration, I am content. If they speak to the consciousness of a more compassionate, inclusive and peaceful world, I am fulfilled. If they sing to a few hearts, I know I have somehow hit the right notes.

I now live in a rural area of Western New York, enjoying the moments with my mother and cats, working as an administrative professional, and otherwise—when not gardening or feeding the birds or shoveling snow or pretending to be a good housekeeper—writing and painting and writing some more!

I am currently working on ...

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Antique Print of Wroxton Abbey
... a sequel to A House Near Luccoli, taking its female protagonist, Donatella, to England and the small but stately Oxfordshire village of Wroxton (near the market town of Banbury) where she hopes to settle with her Italian mother and English father, a retired seaman. Before long she encounters the residents of Wroxton Abbey, both active in the Court of Charles II: Lord Francis North, Keeper of the Great Seal, and his younger brother, Roger, who is on the King's Council. Roger North is a major player in the novel, a fascinating young man who left a wealth of written material on a wide range of subjects, and offered great insight into the intellectual, cultural and political changes taking place in the England of his time. Donatella finds a quiet but not uneventful life in the pastorial setting of Wroxton. Of course, she is haunted by past possibilities (and inpossibilities), the lure of music and its masters not done with her yet. The divine Henry Purcell and a few other less well-known composers and musicians of the time make an appearance, including one (or two) Donatella first encountered in the house near Luccoli. The working title for this novel is To A Strange Somewhere Fled.
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Take a tour of Wroxton Abbey Interiors and Grounds, and Wroxton Village here!

© Copyright 2012 DM Denton. All rights reserved.


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