Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk

Looking for your next read?

2017-09-12T15:07:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for your interest in and support of our books. If you love mysteries, historical fiction, women's literature/chick lit, or genre romance, you've come to the right place!

Yours in reading - Gina and Janice

A satisfying historical murder mystery - The Wolves of St. Peter's
An art, travel, and a love mystery set in Italy - The Sidewalk Artist
WWII fiction - Ciao Bella
A sweet romance set in Ontario, Canada - Falling for Rain (by Meadow Taylor)
An updated Jane Eyre romance - The Billionaire's Secrets (by Meadow Taylor)
A romantic thriller set in Venice - Midnight in Venice (by Meadow Taylor)
Two short romantic holiday stories - Christmas in Alcatraz and Christmas in Bruges (by Meadow Taylor)

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Just in time for cottage and beach season: The Billionaire’s Secrets available worldwide as a paperback!

2017-05-30T01:00:00.000-04:00

The Billionaire's Secrets by Meadow Taylor (the pen name under which we write romances) is now available as a paperback at Indigo, Walmart, Shopper's Drug Mart, and other stores across Canada - and on online booksellers worldwide.

Amazon USA
BN.com
Amazon Canada
Indigo
Amazon UK (including Australia)
Amazon Germany (in English)
Amazon France (in English)

A contemporary romance about secrets and second chances that has seduced thousands of readers
Her career as a teacher is all but destroyed. Her personal life is in shambles. Thirty-two- year old Chloe Winters leaves Boston to become a private tutor to a young girl in an isolated mansion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland.

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Gaelan Byrne is burdened by the fame he never asked for. And the secrets he can never share. Especially not with the young, beautiful, compassionate woman who turns up at his home to tutor his daughter, Sophia.

Their attraction is instant and powerful. But secrets get in the way. . .
They were both betrayed by people they trusted. They are both deeply lonely. But will they be able to see past their pain to find happiness together?

Readers love it: Ranked 4/5 stars overall on Amazon and 3.3/5 stars overall on Goodreads!

What readers on Goodreads say:
"I loved this book! I read it in the span of a day, and the love story filled my heart with that lovely giddy feeling a good book gives you. Love it being in Newfoundland also so close to my home province that it makes the story even more real to me. Also loved the twists in this book and did not predict any of them before they happened! Great book!"

BooksandBeyondFiftyShades: "What a surprise, this was a free download at the time, and I put it on the back burner and started reading it and finished it at 2am. I totally enjoyed this book the story was well written, the characters were real and likable, and the ending was not as predictable! This is a romantic love story (not erotic). I would recommend this book to anyone."

What readers on Amazon say:
"I was thinking this would be one of those awful Kindle reads, especially when the main characters kept warring over their feelings for each other. But the quality of writing and the depth of the story was impressive. An excellent read for my day away from the kids."

"Jane Eyre has always been one of my favorite books. This book took that story and added a modern twist. It did not disappoint!! Very enjoyable!"

Surround yourself with books

2017-01-11T14:40:00.001-05:00

Thank you so much for your interest in and support of our books. If you love mysteries, historical fiction, women's literature/chick lit, or genre romance, you've come to the right place!

We're hard at work on our next historical mystery, a followup to The Wolves of St. Peter's, where Francesco finds himself in Venice. While we're busy rescuing Francesco from foggy corners, we'd still love to hear from you. And thanks in advance for all the recommendations and reviews you've given our books.

Yours in reading - Gina and Janice

For an updated Jane Eyre romance - The Billionaire's Secrets (by Meadow Taylor) - during May 2017, Canadians can enter to win a paperback copy
For a satisfying historical mystery - The Wolves of St. Peter's
For art, travel, and a love mystery set in Italy - The Sidewalk Artist
For WWII fiction - Ciao Bella
For a sweet romance and Canadiana - Falling for Rain (by Meadow Taylor)
For a romantic thriller set in Venice - Midnight in Venice (by Meadow Taylor)

Happy Holidays from Gina & Janice (and Meadow too)!

2016-11-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Just in time for the holidays, we are happy to announce the release of Christmas in Alcatraz, a short story by our favorite creation and romantic alter-ego, Meadow Taylor.

Following in the tradition of Christmas in Venice (a short story based on Meadow's full-length novel Midnight in Venice) and Christmas in Bruges, Christmas in Alcatraz is another satisfying short and cozy romance for the holiday season, a baby-boomer romantic comedy set in the unlikeliest of places.

Fresh from her divorce, Jenny agrees to spend the holiday season in San Francisco with her ex-husband George getting to know their son’s new fiancée. Seeing George, as handsome and charming as ever, Jenny realizes that while he has moved on, she has not. It is at best a Christmas to be survived.

When their Alcatraz tour goes awry and the pair are trapped in the infamous prison during the worst storm in San Francisco’s history, survival becomes literal.

But damn if her ex doesn’t look good – George Clooney good. His backpack is filled with airline bottles of booze and if they don't get killed by the storm or the prison’s ghosts, maybe this Christmas can be saved after all…

Christmas in Alcatraz: an ebook for only 99 cents on any of these sites:

Kobo
Apple iBooks/iTunes
Barnes and Noble
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon Australia
Amazon India
Amazon Japan
Amazon France
Amazon Germany
Amazon Italy
And all Amazon sites worldwide

Christmas in Alcatraz on Goodreads

Thank you in advance for helping spread the word. And we and Meadow love to read reviews – just a single line will make our holidays merry and bright!

May your new year be filled with peace, joy, and good books!

Grants, Sloths, and Venice

2016-03-31T12:59:00.000-04:00

We are thrilled to be the recipients of a Canada Council for the Arts Grant for Professional Writers - Creative Writing (March 2016) for our latest historical novel set in Renaissance Venice!

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Although we have been diligently and slothfully working on this novel over the last few years, this generous grant will allow us to pick up the pace. Though we don’t yet have a date of publication, we’ll keep you posted.

In the meanwhile, you might enjoy reading if you haven’t yet one of our other books, rereading an old favorite, or giving one of our books for an upcoming holiday or birthday. We truly appreciate your support. We also do book clubs! (We'll skype in or come in person if we can.)

Thank you so much for your interest and support!

Yours in reading - Gina and Janice

For a good historical mystery - The Wolves of St. Peter's
For art, travel, and Italy - The Sidewalk Artist
For WWII fiction - Ciao Bella
For a sweet romance and Canadiana - Falling for Rain (by Meadow Taylor)
For an updated Jane Eyre romance - The Billionaire's Secrets (by Meadow Taylor)
For a romantic thriller set in Venice - Midnight in Venice (by Meadow Taylor)

Spread the Word About Our Books

2016-01-11T14:39:00.002-05:00

Unless you're Stephen King, Nora Roberts, or JK Rowling, most authors rely on word of mouth to find new readers, sell their books, and eke out a living. As someone who opted to receive our newsletter or are on our website, you've likely read some or all of our books.

If you haven't and are looking for a new read, please consider one of our other books or the e-book romances we've written under our pen name Meadow Taylor. If you have read them all (thank you!!), please tell a friend about us, suggest one of our books as a book club pick (we'll skype in), or give one of our books as a gift.

Thank you so much for your interest and support!

Yours in reading - Gina and Janice

For a good historical mystery - The Wolves of St. Peter's
For art, travel, and Italy - The Sidewalk Artist
For WWII fiction - Ciao Bella
For a sweet romance and Canadiana - Falling for Rain (by Meadow Taylor)
For an updated Jane Eyre romance - The Billionaire's Secrets (by Meadow Taylor)
For a romantic thriller set in Venice - Midnight in Venice (by Meadow Taylor)

Happy Holidays 2015! From Gina and Janice

2015-11-24T18:28:00.000-05:00

There's a saying going around about what to give children for the holidays this year:

Something they WANT, something they NEED, something to WEAR, and something to READ.

We think these are great ideas, not least the part about something to read - and not just kids! Perhaps one of the books we've written will be perfect for someone on your list:

For the lover of a good mystery - The Wolves of St. Peter's
For the lover of art, travel, and Italy - The Sidewalk Artist
For the lover of historical fiction, especially World War II - Ciao Bella
For the lover of a sweet romance and Canadiana - Falling for Rain (by Meadow Taylor)
For the lover of a romance with more edge - The Billionaire's Secrets (by Meadow Taylor)
For the lover of Venice - Midnight in Venice

And perhaps for yourself, among the holiday mayhem: a cup of tea, fifteen minutes, and our short story Christmas in Bruges (by Meadow Taylor). One reader had this to say about it: "How lovely to read a romantic story that touches on a serious issue [PTSD] in a gentle way. The healing power of love is something we can all believe in during the holiday season."

We think something else needs to be added: something to DONATE. Whether on Giving Tuesday (December 1, 2015) or at any other time, please consider donating to a charity such as the New York Times-profiled organization called Cure Blindness: Himalayan Cataract Project, which can remove someone’s blindness-inducing cataracts in ten minutes for as little as $25, which is pretty much a miracle when you think about it.

As Charles Dickens wrote in A Christmas Carol: “I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come round...as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

However you celebrate this season, we wish you peace, joy, love - and good books!

Cheers!
Gina & Janice

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Historical Mystery or Contemporary Romance? You Choose

2015-01-27T14:44:00.000-05:00

The Wolves of St. Peter’s - A suspenseful, intoxicating mystery of art, young love, and betrayal, set amid the glory and corruption of Renaissance Rome

Here’s what some readers had to say:

5.0 out of 5 stars - A delightful read - By Jen
"Drawing on the details of daily life in High Renaissance Rome, this book was captivating. I loved the combination of historical characters (Michelangelo, Raphael...) and everyday people history "forgot". A great story, full of twists and turns and delightful characters."
5.0 out of 5 stars - A perfect read for a rainy summer evening - By flyingcanoe
"I agree with the previous reviewers. The Wolves of St Peter's is a great read. It is well written and researched. If you are a fan of historical fiction then you will enjoy this book. On a rainy summer evening, pour yourself a glass of vino rosso and sit down with the Wolves of St Peter's. I bet you will not put it down or even mind that it is raining."
5.0 out of 5 stars - For fans of all things historical, mysterious, or beautiful. A great piece of writing and a great read too! - By eleanor sheahan
"A dead prostitute is pulled from a river. Her body taken by a mysterious fat man before it can be claimed. So begins a mystery so full both of gritty and intriguing detail and of haunting images, it grabs you instantly and does not immediately leave you once you are done. Bring on the next installment!"

Midnight in Venice by our pen name, Meadow Taylor - From the author of The Billionaire’s Secrets and Falling for Rain, Midnight in Venice is a captivating new contemporary tale of romance and suspense set in the magical city of Venice, Italy

Here’s what some readers had to say:

5.0 out of 5 stars - Love & intrigue in Venice - By Selective Reader
"I enjoyed the delicious plot and the fast pace of this story of love and intrigue in Venice. Each piece of the puzzle fit together cleverly by the end. Alessandro and Olivia were fun to follow around Venice. A book of pleasure and suspense, highly recommended!"
5.0 out of 5 stars - Worth the wait! - By A. Veronica Abbey
"This book was worth the wait from short story to novel! All Meadow's previous books have been great and this did not disappoint. It has it all, great love story, intrigue, suspense, mystery. It's a literary box of chocolate."

Happy Holidays and All the Best for 2015!

2014-11-17T11:42:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again - the snow is softly falling here in Ontario, and our thoughts are turning to the holidays.

Our alter ego, Meadow Taylor, a few years ago published the very popular short e-story called Christmas in Venice (which is a modified first chapter of her new romantic suspense novel Midnight in Venice). This year she has published a satisfying short story available on all ebook platforms called Christmas in Bruges. Here's the beginning:

“It’s a fairyland,” Paula whispered.

It was two days before Christmas. She was sitting in Café Terrastje, a cozy bistro lit entirely by candlelight, eating the best lasagna she’d ever tasted, a glass of excellent red wine next to her plate. Her table was beside the window, and she had the perfect view of what had to be the most perfect part of Bruges. Great flakes of snow drifted down to the cobblestone street while, gracing the branches of every tree, a million white fairy lights sparkled, their reflections dancing on the canal.

“Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt, but isn’t the line really, ‘It’s an effing fairyland’? Pardon my language.”

Deep and rich with a playful edge, his voice was familiar. Familiar in a good way, reminding her of someone she’d always dreamed of seeing again but had lost all hope of re-encountering long ago.

But it couldn’t be. Not here in Bruges.

She looked up, feeling a rush of excitement, a shiver that had nothing to do with the blast of cold air as he closed the door behind him. Brushing the snow out of his dark hair, he smiled down at her. That was familiar too.

Then his eyes caught the candlelight, and she knew it had to be him. There couldn’t be two men on this planet with eyes quite that shade of green. A sunlit forest, she’d told him, looking into them for the first time. That’s what they remind me of . . . He’d laughed. I think you’re in love . . .

“James?” His name came readily—it was never far away, as much as she’d tried to forget it. Still, she’d forgotten how absolutely sexy he was. Or had the years made him sexier?

He smiled even wider. “I saw you through the window watching the snow fall. I recognized you instantly, though I swear you’re even more beautiful than I’d remembered. I had to come in. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course! I can’t believe we’re in Bruges at the same time. What are the chances? It’s been, what, eight years since . . .?”

“Nine, but who’s counting? It’s so wonderful to see you, Paula. And you really do look amazing.”

“You look pretty terrific yourself. What brings you to Belgium?”

“That line you said, about Bruges being a fairyland. That’s from In Bruges, right? That’s why I’m here. I saw the movie and decided I had to come for Christmas.”

“It’s why I’m here too. I could hardly pay attention to the story, I was so distracted by the scenery: the medieval buildings, the canals, the lights. I like how Bruges acts as one of the characters, a serene and peaceful contrast to the violence . . .” She trailed off, thinking she was sounding like a freshman arts student. But that’s what Paula had been when they first met. She, from Toronto, was studying drama at New York University, while he, from New Jersey and four years older, was in his first year of medical school there. Her very first boyfriend. They spent Friday nights making love and watching movies together, entwined on her couch drinking cheap red wine.

She wondered if she should remind him of this. Instead, she looked out the window at the snow dusting the stone gargoyles on the building opposite. “Remember all the movies we watched together?” he asked. “We tried hard to be intellectual in our tastes, but it really was the action films we enjoyed best. I never dreamed you’d get the same idea. A Christmas miracle, I think.”

The story continues as they walk through the snowy streets, laughing at their younger selves and pondering the unexpected course their lives have taken over the past nine years. Paula, a promising actress, became a teacher, while James abandoned medical school to serve as a medic in Afghanistan. But as Christmas Day approaches, James's painful war memories threaten their rekindled love. Read the rest of the story.

Wishing you and yours the very best in 2015!

Warmly - Gina & Janice

New book: Midnight in Venice - plus a contest alert!

2014-09-11T13:52:00.000-04:00

CONTEST UPDATE: We are very pleased to announce the winner of our contest: Marlene Vazquez! Marlene, thank you so much for helping Meadow spread the word about her new romantic suspense novel, Midnight in Venice. Hope you enjoy your new Murano glass jewelry!

When we're not researching Renaissance Italy, we write contemporary fiction under the chic pen name Meadow Taylor, the latest being her romantic thriller, Midnight in Venice, now available from HarperCollins Canada.

Writing romantic thrillers gives us a chance to relive our favourite places, and, as with Meadow’s short story Christmas in Bruges, the opportunity to discover new ones. If ever you visit Bruges, Belgium, be sure to go to the Cafe Terrastje. Meadow, we mean Janice, (sometimes it’s hard to remember who we are!) ate every meal there (oh, the tortures of research), and it really does have the best lasagna in the world!

Best of all, we get to write an unapologetic, no-holds-barred, happily-ever-after ending. That said, don’t assume bliss comes effortlessly for Meadow’s characters. The trials, twists, and turns Meadow hurls in their path makes them earn every ounce of their happiness, while her readers are forced to stay up all night, terrified they won’t get the happy ending they so confidently expected. Yes, now that we think of it, Meadow has quite a sadistic streak. Nothing makes her happier than when readers tell her they spent a sleepless night because they couldn’t put her book down.

And now for the contest, in which you could win this beautiful Murano glass necklace with matching earrings.

To enter, email us at janiceandgina @ hotmail.com or meadowtaylor1 @ gmail.com, post to Meadow’s Facebook page, or tweet Meadow, and let her (and us) know you did one of the following two things:

1) Tell your friends about Midnight in Venice via email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or any other method.
or 2) Write a review of Midnight in Venice on Goodreads, Amazon, your blog, etc.

The deadline is Wednesday October 8, 2014, and the winner will be chosen at random.

Though not currently available in paperback or hardcover, Midnight in Venice is available worldwide in English on all ebook platforms:

Amazon Canada
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Australia
Kobo
Apple iTunes
Google Play (where it's a Top Pick under $10!)
Goodreads
Plus many more online retailers around the world!

“From the author of The Billionaire’s Secrets and Falling for Rain, Midnight in Venice is a captivating new contemporary tale of romance and suspense set in the magical city of Venice, Italy

Readers met and fell in love with Olivia Moretti in Meadow Taylor’s hugely popular holiday story Christmas in Venice, where Olivia is rescued by a gorgeous Italian cop, Alessandro Rossi, during an airport bomb scare. Now, as the new year begins, her joy at having landed her dream job in Venice’s thriving art world is surpassed only by the realization that she and Alessandro are falling in love—and her surprise that he turns out to be not just the son of a tycoon, but a gifted pianist and former racecar driver who is equally at home in the city’s bejewelled palazzos as patrolling its streets. Olivia can’t believe that her life now includes masked balls, exquisite music, romantic trips to Paris—and true love. But all this is put in jeopardy when a business trip to New York City finds her accused of a crime she didn’t commit—and not even Alessandro believes she’s innocent. Can her new love uncover the truth and keep Olivia’s Italian dream from becoming a nightmare? A thrilling, passion-filled story set among the dazzling palaces, canals, and piazzas of one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Midnight in Venice is perfect for fans of Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts, and lovers of contemporary romance everywhere.”

This contest has been publicized on Contest Heat as well as other sites.

The Latest on The Wolves of St. Peter's

2014-04-14T14:36:00.000-04:00

The Wolves of St. Peter's was longlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award Best Novel 2014!

Looking for a copy? HarperCollins Canada recently issued a new paperback edition - find it here. Also available as an ebook. Makes a great autumn read!

Roundup of reviews:

“This is the third novel by the Canadian team of Buonaguro and Kirk, and it’s the best so far." - Globe & Mail

"A thrilling tale of beauty and ugliness in Renaissance Italy." - Chatelaine

“A zesty mix of high-class brothels and high-level corruption make The Wolves of St. Peter’s a top-notch historical thriller." - Ross King

"A perfect read for any historical fiction lover." - Anokhi Magazine

“The Wolves of St. Peter’s is an engrossing historical murder mystery—atmospheric, quirky, and compelling." - Sandra Gulland

"By turns gritty and sumptuous, The Wolves of St. Peter’s will keep you rapt—and guessing—till the end.” - Oakland Ross

"This is an immensely satisfying read for fans of historical fiction or Renaissance Italy and the artists of its time that would translate delightfully into a stunning feature film." - Scully Love Promo

Recent guest blog post:

About our writing process on the blog of Lisa de Nikolits, author of The Witchdoctor's. Bones.

Poetry to Warm You on a Cold Day

2014-01-06T17:05:00.000-05:00

It's been a bitterly cold start to 2014 here in Ontario, as it has been for much of North America. We were reminiscing about our research trip to Venice exactly one year ago, when all we had to contend with was fog and rain. That reminded us of a poem about fog by our friend, the Kingston, Ontario-based poet Jason Heroux.

FOG MANUAL

The fog manual
is written in fog.
In fog the fog
manual is written.

Full of fog safety
directions the fog
manual is for you,
fog owner. For you

the fog manual is
full of fog warranty
information and fog
assembly instructions

for you to read, to read
when the fog manual vanishes
in the fog, fog owner, in the fog
when the fog manual vanishes.

Jason Heroux is the author of three poetry collections, Memoirs of an Alias, Emergency Hallelujah, and Natural Capital, all published by Mansfield Press, and the novella Good Evening, Central Laundromat (Quattro Books, 2010). His most recent publications are the poetry chapbook In Defence of the Attacked Center Pawn (Puddles of Sky Press, 2013), the prose poem chapbook Let Us Now Praise the Empty Parking Lot (White Knuckle Press, 2013), and the micro-chapbook The Vending Machine of Earthly Delights (Origami Poems Project, 2013). His poetry has appeared in chapbooks and magazines in Canada, the US, Belgium, France, and Italy, and was featured in the anthologies Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets, and Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008 and 2011.

Here's another thought-provoking poem:

TINY KINGDOM

The wind chimes are a gentle alarm
warning everyone that nothing is wrong,
even though ants creep through the grass
like little coffins carrying themselves

and hospitals sneak up behind the sick.
Even though the rickety days are kept
together only with sunlight’s sticky tape,
everything is fine: the birds in the trees

sound like cheerful ambulances,
every moment is a tiny kingdom,
and our brief shadows appear permanent
as tattoos on the sidewalk’s skin.

Both poems, which are used with permission, are from the collection Natural Capital.

Jonathan Ball of the Winnipeg Free Press writes:

In Natural Capital (Mansfield, 64 pages, $17), Kingston's Jason Heroux continues to develop his bold style through the delightful fusion of otherwise jarring images. In Heroux's acrobatic jugglings, "wind chimes are a gentle alarm / warning everyone that nothing is wrong."

Many of Heroux's poems present miniature narratives through surrealistic matings. In one poem, Heroux imagines a strange locale that could be either "a hospital or a coffee shop." The pairing seems gimmicky on the surface, but Heroux manages to make the conflation engage the emotions, while retaining its black, comedic edge.

We hope you enjoy Jason's poetry. To read more, please visit his website.

Stay warm!

Happy Holidays from Gina & Janice!

2013-12-04T13:47:00.000-05:00

Being historical novelists has made us keenly appreciate living in a 21st-century developed country. However, we’re also acutely aware that so many people in the world today don’t have the advantages we do.

Thus, in the spirit of Nicholas D. Kristof at the New York Times and the new #GivingTuesday movement, we bring you a list of our favourite charities, organizations we like to give to or to donate in another’s name because of their connection to our writing.

Plan Canada Gifts of Hope - Janice grew up on a farm and is our resident chicken expert. Hence, in tribute to her childhood, all our stories contain chickens. Sometimes it can be as simple as having hens pecking on a rural road in The Sidewalk Artist, while in The Wolves of St. Peter’s an unusual chicken becomes a central character. We once gave our agent some baby chicks as a Christmas gift - he professed to being delighted by the sentiment.

Worldwide Fistula Fund - Due to both Ciao Bella and The Wolves of St. Peter’s, we have become very interested in the importance of women’s health, and thus we find the work the Worldwide Fistula Fund does to be vital. It helps women in sub-Saharan Africa who develop fistulas due to giving birth at a young age. Without treatment, they’re ostracized and their lives are destroyed.

Wikipedia - It’s constantly updated, and though just one of the many tools we use to conduct our research, we couldn’t live without it. It’s free and supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

Kiva - Kiva provides microloans to people worldwide looking to lift themselves out of poverty. A few years ago as a Christmas present to each other, we jointly gave a loan and since then have loaned more. In homage to our female characters, we tend to invest in women pursuing artistic professions with children to support.

Doctors without Borders - Medical professionals associated with Doctors without Borders practice medicine in some of the most violent and war-torn places on the planet. When writing Ciao Bella, we learned about the lack of doctors in rural Northern Italy during World War II and made our heroine Graziella a de facto midwife and nurse. Many of the characters in The Wolves of St. Peter’s would have greatly benefited from medical assistance, since surely most people in Renaissance Italy were living in a constant state of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For those interested in an in-depth portrayal of what exactly Doctors without Borders do, we can’t recommend highly enough James Orbinski’s memoir, An Imperfect Offering.

Many worthy groups are out there, deserving of our time and money, and we only provide the above as suggestions and food for thought. However you choose to give this holiday season, we wish you much joy.

***

For those of you looking for a short satisfying story for the busy holiday season, you may be interested to know about our pen name Meadow Taylor's latest short story, Christmas in Bruges, inspired by both the serene beauty of this Belgian city and this New Yorker article on PTSD. It's available as an ebook worldwide on Kindle or Kindle app, including Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, and around the globe on the various Amazon sites.

Giving Thanks (Canadian, American, and 21st Century)

2013-10-02T12:07:00.000-04:00

One unexpected outcome of writing historical novels for us has been our overwhelming gratitude for living in the present day. While the past is often romanticized, the reality is that we wouldn’t want to live any other time and place than the present day in the developed world.

It was our goal in The Wolves of St. Peter’s to accurately depict Rome in 1508. While we knew from the start it wasn’t like a Renaissance Fair, we were constantly shocked by just how brutal it was. While this was the Renaissance and Europe was pulling out of the Dark Ages, discovering science and reason, for most people it was still medieval. They had to endure discomfort, filth, ignorance, and violence.

What disturbed us most, however, were the women, whether rich or poor, whose grim existences came alive for us in our novel’s female characters: Juliet, sold off by her powerful family into an abusive marriage for a political alliance; Imperia, daughter of a Vatican choirmaster, fortunate in avoiding a life on the streets by running a high-end brothel staffed by courtesans like Calendula, a poor noblewoman with no other options; and Susanna, our favorite female character, desperately trying to raise a dowry by stealing from her employer, for whom she works as both maid and concubine. Our women often exhibited resourcefulness and courage, though given their circumstances they were not necessarily admirable or moral.

The children born in Renaissance Rome fared little better than their mothers. If they were fortunate, they lived past infancy, only to face lives of hard labor, scraping out a meager existence, hungry, fearful of plague, disease, famine, rape, and war, in a constant state of mourning and post-traumatic stress. In a world with no birth control, unwanted newborns were killed or left to die; our “detective” Francesco hears their pitiful cries in the outhouses that line the alley behind Michelangelo’s house.

Despite this, we didn’t want to write a book that was all gloom and doom, and we feel our love for our characters, both good and bad, injected humor and levity into the novel. After all, we’re not historians; we’re fiction writers who strive to spin a good yarn.

Almost every time we talk now as coauthors, we discuss how immensely grateful we are to be living in the 21st-century developed world: clean water, sewage systems, an abundance of safe food, antibiotics, immunizations, birth control, public safety, air conditioning, central heating, and on and on and on… (due to space constraints, we’ve cut this list down considerably).

We’re even grateful to pay taxes: money that goes toward healthcare, roads and transportation systems, public education, parks, and environmental protection, to mention a few. It doesn’t matter what your political stripe; we all benefit from these things.

Sadly, places like Congo, Syria, and Sudan, to name just three, still seem to be stuck in medieval times, waiting for basic human rights, let alone the comforts our modern age can provide. And while we realize that problems still exist in the developed world- income disparity, environmental issues, diseases awaiting cures, gun violence - we remain hopeful that if we can solve 16th century problems then surely we can solve 21st century ones too. We’ve certainly come a long way since Rome in 1508, baby.

This Thanksgiving season (both Canadian and American), as we delve into Renaissance Venice, where the second novel of the Francesco Angeli trilogy is set, we’ll be more thankful than ever for the privileges we enjoy while thinking of those still waiting for their renaissance, both politically and personally.

***

This Thanksgiving season, please consider making a donation to your local food bank, either in Canada or the U.S.

***

And here’s a recent review of The Wolves of St. Peter’s: "The Wolves of St. Peter’s is a compelling mystery, full of twists and turns. Nothing – and no one – is what it seems. In what I consider the mark of a good mystery, the truth did not enter my mind as a possibility until the shortly before it was revealed. The characters are beautifully drawn. The historical detail is rich and, I suspect, more accurate than in most historical novels. The reader experiences the full spectrum of life in sixteenth century Rome – the pollution in the Tiber, the squalor of shacks being built willy-nilly against private homes (narrowing the streets and inconveniencing residents who can no longer use the front door), the stench of raw sewage. This is contrasted nicely by the splendour of the Vatican and elite of the city. The dichotomy in personality and lifestyle between the two artists, Michelangelo and Raphael, further emphasizes this contrast.... Very enjoyable."
--Lisa Llamrei

Q& A with Scully Love Promo

Berlusconi, bunga bunga, and the dog days of summer

2013-08-12T16:52:00.001-04:00

Since it’s the dog days of summer and we’re feeling rather lazy, we thought we’d resurrect one of our favorite previous posts, a review of The Wolves of St. Peter’s “written by” Silvio Berlusconi.

Berlusconi, former prime minister of Italy and bunga bunga fan, is back in the news again, this time for exhausting all his appeals and finally having to serve a one-year sentence for tax fraud. Due to his advanced age, his sentence will likely be in the form of house arrest or community service. Given that it seems like he’ll have some time on his hands, he might enjoy reading the Italian version of our novel, to be called I Lupi del Vaticano, coming August 2013 to Italy (you can get a copy from Amazon Italy as well as other book vendors throughout the country).

We absolutely love the cover. Here it is:

And here’s what our Berlusconi had to say about the novel:

"Great Book! Couldn’t put it down. Merkel and Sarkozy called three times demanding I squeeze more blood from a stone, but I told them to get a life and go read The Wolves of St. Peter’s. The authors (two charming Canadian ladies) tell me they based the character of The Turk on me. Even called him Silvio (that’s my first name). Don’t see it myself. That painter, Michelangelo, no it was Raphael, called The Turk “the most cheerfully evil man” he’d ever met. I tell you, Raphael better be careful in the future or I’ll paint moustaches on all those pretty Madonnas of his! And that little upstart from Florence, Francesco, said I… I mean The Turk… looked like that fat old bullfrog from the fairytale…. And what was with the guy who thought he was a bat? But I did like the bunga bunga, and oh, la, la, that Calendula – what a looker! Shame what happened to her. And the ending! How shocking! I never guessed who the murderer was. Well, I won't spoil the surprise. You'll just have to wait until it's published and read it for yourselves."

(You can read the original post in its entirety here.)

Here's what an actual reviewer just wrote about The Wolves of St. Peter’s:

"The romantic and somewhat gothic setting of corrupt, Renaissance Rome in 1508 sets the tone for this captivating murder mystery and the writers’ inclusion of humour at key points in the story perfectly balances the dour atmosphere in which the main characters find themselves. I must say that I didn’t solve the mystery myself until it was revealed near the end of the book. This is an immensely satisfying read for fans of historical fiction or Renaissance Italy and the artists of its time that would translate delightfully into a stunning feature film.." --Scully Love Promo

Accidental Historical Novelists

2013-07-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

We fell into writing historical fiction by accident. Our first novel, The Sidewalk Artist, was to be a contemporary travel story where our heroine met a sidewalk artist in Paris. But what was he drawing? The first things to pop into Janice’s head were Raphael’s iconic cherubs (from The Sistine Madonna). And boom - we had our story, and it was suddenly part historical fiction.

We turned to complete historical fiction for our second book, Ciao Bella, which takes place in Northern Italy in the summer after WWII, and decided for our third novel to return to the Italian Renaissance, which allowed us to both build upon the research we had already started and have Raphael return as a minor character. So we began The Wolves of St. Peter’s, which originally had no wolves but did have a painting.

To read the rest of this article, please go to Cozy Up With a Good Read.

***

Cozy Up With a Good Read also has reviewed The Wolves of St. Peter's: "I feel like this book was such a success, and I am excited to go through some of their older titles. These two did a beautiful job of recreating Renaissance Rome for readers and really brought the characters to life."

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Please consider donating to the Red Cross to help the community of Lac-Megantic, Quebec as they recover from the train explosion.

The Vatican—Season 266

2013-05-21T15:40:00.000-04:00

As the recent papal conclave showed, the Vatican knows how to put on a good show. The suspense was nail-biting, and not just for Catholics. It seemed like everyone was glued to their TV sets and computer screens. The secrecy: Turn off those twitter feeds! The ancient rituals: White smoke or black? The speculation: Canadian, African, or Italian? But as much as we wanted to know who the next Pope would be, we didn’t want the show to end. It was Survivor Vatican and we were hooked.

To read the rest of this article, please go to The 49th Shelf.

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Chatelaine has reviewed The Wolves of St. Peter's in their June 2013 issue and have this to say: "A thrilling tale of beauty and ugliness in Renaissance Italy."

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Finally, please consider giving to the victims of the recent Oklahoma tornadoes.

The Wolves of St. Peter's is now available!

2013-04-23T14:22:00.000-04:00

The Wolves of St. Peter's is now officially available from HarperCollins Canada in Canada! If you live outside of Canada, it is still possible to get as a paperback from a Canadian bookseller. It will be released in Italy next year.

You can sample the first chapter here. HarperCollins Canada is also giving away five copies on Goodreads - the contest runs through April 27, 2013 for Canadian residents.

If your book club would like to read The Wolves of St. Peter's, you can find some questions to jumpstart the discussion here. We love to participate in book clubs, either in person or on the phone/skype, so do contact us to see if we can work something out.

As of today's release date, we've been lucky to receive several great reviews:

The Globe & Mail notes: "The writers are adept at plotting and they make great use of the grand artists who were in Rome at the time, along with the streets, smells and the brothels they attended."
Justine Lewkowicz of Bookends at Newstalk 1010 writes: "If you’re a fan of murder mysteries, you’ll enjoy this one. There’s a surprise ending that I don’t think I could have predicted. It’s a good book for someone looking for a suspenseful read."
One of our favorite writers, Ross King (Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Leonardo and the Last Supper) has this to say: "“A zesty mix of high-class brothels and high-level corruption make The Wolves of St. Peter’s a top-notch historical thriller. Buonaguro and Kirk lead us through the murkier side of Renaissance Rome with the help of a cast of enjoyably unpleasant characters, including a grumpy Michelangelo and a serenely dissolute Raphael. Who needs The Borgias?” (Extremely high praise since we're huge fans of that hit Showtime series.)

We also were interviewed by Janice's hometown newspaper, the Kingston Whig-Standard, over the weekend, and we chatted with the editor of the online women's magazine 29secrets.com for a Q&A about our books and coauthoring process.

On Monday June 10, 2013, Gina will sit down with readers at the Burlington Public Library in Ontario to discuss The Wolves of St. Peter's, and we're going to appear at the Kingston WritersFest, which runs September 25-29, 2013.

We hope you enjoy reading The Wolves of St. Peter's. Thanks so much for your support and interest - we are truly grateful.

Popes and Wolves and Scandals - Oh My!

2013-03-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

As Pope Benedict XVI steps down and the conclave convenes to choose a new pontiff, we can’t help but wonder what elements of the former Joseph Ratzinger’s papacy will become the fodder of historical fiction writers.

Chances are he will fare better than his predecessor, Pope Julius II (1503-1513), who reigns during the time of our story, The Wolves of St. Peter’s. Nicknamed Il Papa Terribile or the “Fearsome” or “Terrifying” Pope, Julius was known for his violence, temper, foul language, and flying into rages in which he would beat his underlings with sticks or even his fists.

Ross King in Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling reports that a Venetian ambassador said on meeting him: “It is virtually impossible to describe how strong and violent and difficult to manage he is.” While on Julius’s death, a Spanish ambassador remarked: “In the hospital in Valencia, there are a hundred people chained up who are less mad than his Holiness.”

Julius was also known as Il Papa Guerriero – “The Warrior Pope.” Taking the name of Julius Caesar, he saw himself as both Emperor and Pope. At that time, the Church’s territorial ambitions extended beyond the Vatican, and Julius was keen to recover the lost Papal States. Unlike any pope before, he rode into battle alongside his men – and in a bit of absurdity no fiction writer could make up, took the Sistine Chapel Choir with him.

Julius is also hailed as a patron of the arts, and he fulfilled his plans for St. Peter’s with the same ferocious determination as he pursued his wars. But as much as he wanted Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, he almost met his match in the strong-willed artist. Michelangelo wanted nothing to do with the Chapel and fled Rome with papal assassins in pursuit, only returning when he was sent a written guarantee of his safety. Knowing Michelangelo as well as we feel we do, we can only imagine his humiliation at having to beg Julius’s forgiveness.

And as if what we know for certain about Julius isn’t fearsome enough, unholy stories about him still abound. He had a number of mistresses and fathered three girls, one of whom lived to adulthood. He contracted syphilis, which had just made its way to Italy from the New World. (Julius was apparently not the only pope to have an active social life - see the Wikipedia entry on sexually active popes.) He was also homosexual, which was highly hypocritical since he was burning “sodomites” at the stake. (Hint to Benedict’s successor – catching up with the 21st century on this bit of dogma could probably cut the number of Vatican scandals in half.) Another story concerns the nature of his relationship with a young boy, who some say was a hostage. This boy becomes the basis for Agnello in The Wolves of St. Peter’s.

The popular Showtime series The Borgias picks up on another rumor concerning Julius. A lifetime of pursuing the papacy has left him as frustrated as Wile E. Coyote in pursuit of the Road Runner. Having exhausted all other avenues to oust the Borgia Pope Alexander VI, he spends Season 2 plotting to poison him. Whether or not Julius actually murdered him (two other theories point to accidental poisoning by his son or, quite mundanely, malaria), it was because of Julius that the Borgia name became synonymous with poison.

There was another pope between Alexander and Julius, Pius III, who enjoyed a reign of only twenty-six days. He may have died of an ulcer, or, you guessed it, poison. But that's another story.

The Wolves of St. Peter’s is now available for preorder.

***

As for who should be next Pope, we fully endorse Elmore Leonard’s suggestions.

Venice: January 2013 (or is it 1510?)

2013-01-11T17:30:00.000-05:00

Here we are in in Venice, working on our second book in the Francesco Angeli series, tentatively titled The Lions of St. Mark’s. So much of the city is the same as when Francesco was here in 1510. And in the fog with the bells ringing, it’s not too hard to imagine ourselves back in the 16th century. In fact, we wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Francesco emerge from the mist and ask for our help. We’ll agree of course, so long as he’s willing to buy us a spritz in return. In fact, we think Francesco could use a spritz or two; he’s been a little too serious of late. But perhaps that comes with finding a dead girl on the doorstep of your palazzo, and we did put him through an awful lot in Rome in The Wolves of St. Peter’s.

Monday, January 7, 2013 - 9:30 am on the Zattere.

Monday, January 7, 2013 - 5 pm on The Grand Canal.

Enjoying our daily spritz at the local bar called Al Bottegon.

Speaking of which, Wolves, the first book in the Francesco Angeli trilogy, will be released this April, with an Italian translation slated for 2014.

For a taste of the Venetian winter (20th century, not 16th), we highly recommend Nobel and U.S. poet laureate Joseph Brodsky’s Watermark.

Merry Christmas From Gina and Janice!

2012-12-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

For our holiday post, we are linking you back to the recently “discovered” Christmas letter from the lost correspondence of The Sidewalk Artist’s intrepid travel writer and our creation, Miss Mildred Mercy. Fitting that she wrote all about Rome and mentions Raphael too, given all the time we’ve recently spent putting the finishing touches on the first in our Francesco Angeli trilogy, The Wolves of St. Peter’s, forthcoming in May. (We are still amazed that Berlusconi reviewed it.)

The new year will find us in Venice for our very first research trip together. We will be working on the second in the Francesco Angeli trilogy, tentatively titled The Lions of St. Mark’s. We are extremely excited at the prospect of exploring the city together through Francesco’s eyes - he’ll be visiting the former site of the San Zaccaria Convent, the Frari, the glass-making island of Murano, the former red light district of San Cassiano, and we’re even hoping to hire someone to take us out to the tiny island of San Angelo della Provera. Look for updates from us throughout the month of January.

While in Italy, we also will be finishing a romance, tentatively called Midnight in Venice, penned by another fictional creation of ours, Meadow Taylor. Meadow, as we see it, was born on the English moors, in Bronte country. She wrote her first romance, The Billionaire’s Secrets, while on holiday in Newfoundland. She has since met her own soul mate, which goes to show that not all romance is fiction. She currently lives in the Prince Edward County wine region of Ontario, near the setting of her next romance, Falling for Rain (formerly attributed to us).

Meadow would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas by offering you a FREE short story - Christmas in Venice is available on all ebook platforms in English worldwide, including Apple, Amazon, Kobo, Nook, and Sony.

As you cross off your holiday shopping list, please also consider helping those less fortunate. Given that Gina is from New Jersey, we hope this year you might consider a donation to those hard hit by the hurricane in the Garden State, such as the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund or the Red Cross.

Best wishes to you for 2013,
Gina and Janice

The Wolves of Janice and Gina

2012-10-21T20:37:00.003-04:00

Well actually, they aren’t wolves, and they’re certainly not ours. They’re a breed of husky called Tamaskan, and they belong to our photographer friend, Jessica Tremblay. For The Wolves of St. Peter’s, we wanted an author photo that reflected the story in some way. So Jess to the rescue, along with her white dog Sharayah (meaning friend) and her brown one Taima (meaning crash of thunder).

Now for setting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t jetset to Italy for the photo shoot, and so a crumbling stone wall at old Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario stood in for a Roman one.

Here are a couple of outtakes, including one of our wonderful photographer Jess, taken by Gina.

Getting the wolves to pose was no mean feat

Our wolves were clearly very comfortable with us by now

A portrait of photographer Jessica Tremblay

BOOKS OF NOTE: We haven't read it yet, but it's next on our list: Ross King's Governor General-nominated Leonardo and the Last Supper. We found his book Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling a must-read while writing The Wolves of St. Peter's. Not only brilliantly researched, it was so entertaining and readable, we began to wonder why write fiction at all!

We're also looking forward to The Borgias Season 2, just released in Canada on DVD. Colm Feore brilliantly plays Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the soon-to-be Pope Julius II. A major character in The Wolves of St. Peter's, Julius makes the Borgias look like saints in comparison. (Note to Mr. Feore: The Wolves of St. Peter's would make a great follow up to The Borgias.)

Summer Vacation Musings

2012-07-11T17:29:00.001-04:00

As the authors of historical fiction and a forthcoming historical mystery - The Wolves of St. Peter's - set amid the gritty death and grime of Renaissance Rome, we’re sometimes asked why we chose to write a genre romance too, namely Falling for Rain, a contemporary love story that takes place in rural Ontario.

We wrote a romance for the same reason people read them: It was fun. It was an escape. For readers and writers alike, they’re a break from the mundane and from tragedies that fill the front pages of newspaper. In the world of romance, nothing is so terrible that falling in love can’t cure. And while so much writing is the proverbial banging one's head against the desk, writing a romance (though not without its own challenges) gave us permission to spend our time daydreaming. As writers, it was ever so refreshing to have permission to write an unabashedly happy ending. To let our characters ride off into the sunset together. To live happily ever after. Because who doesn’t want to live happily ever after?

Falling for Rain was a romance Janice began well before she even met Gina. It’s a story that in many ways is closest to her heart. Not your typical exotic location for a romance, but the rural Ontario setting is the romantic landscape of forests and lakes in which she grew up and loves. Writing Falling for Rain was as much a going-home story for her as for the heroine Emily.

Its themes – forgiveness and redemption, that all is not lost, that life gives us second chances should we choose to take them – are ones that resonate through all our novels. And we fall in love with all the heros of our books: Raphael in The Sidewalk Artist, Frank and Ugo in Ciao Bella, and Francesco Angeli in The Wolves of St. Peter’s (we're happy to be seeing Francesco again in the next historical mystery novel of our envisioned Francesco Angeli trilogy).

Rain in Falling for Rain is no exception. As one Amazon reviewer wrote: “We all need a little Rain in our lives.”

Wishing everyone a happy and safe summer, Gina and Janice

BOOKS OF NOTE: As we delve into our next Francesco Angeli book, we have found Peter Ackroyd's marvelous book Venice: Pure City to be an invaluable resource.

Murder in (Renaissance) Venice

2012-02-01T10:28:00.000-05:00

With The Wolves of St. Peter’s now in our agent’s capable hands, the new year has coincided with the start of our next book, in which our hero/detective, Francesco, having fled Rome for Venice, begins his next adventure.

It is a bit intimidating to start all over at page 1, but as we learned from The Wolves of St. Peter’s, the best way to prevent fear of the blank computer screen is by thoroughly getting to know our story first. For weeks now, we have been trading ideas, books, and websites, immersing ourselves in the intrigues of Renaissance Venice as we cook up some delectable plots and betrayals of our own. This is the fun part for us - permission to spend our days daydreaming and playing make-believe.

But as much as we’re already enjoying this new book, we’re afraid Francesco isn’t. The intervening year between stories hasn’t been much fun for Francesco, and he’s clearly going through some kind of Scandinavian Gothic/Kurt Wallander/very depressed phase. A lot happened in those final days in Rome, and although Francesco solved the murder of the Marigold Madonna, he still hears the wolves howling in his dreams. Post-traumatic stress we’re pretty sure, and although it must have been epidemic in early 16th-century Italy, no one had a name for it.

And it doesn’t appear Francesco’s melancholia will be lifting any time soon. Francesco chose Venice with the idea of lying low for a while, only to have Pope Julius II declare war on the Venetian Republic. The Pope is only trying to expand Rome’s influence, but Francesco has his reasons for thinking it could be personal. Now his gondolier has found a young woman on the canal steps with a suicide note pinned to her once lovely dress. And any day now, another young woman’s body is going to appear, and Francesco is going to wonder who or what is driving young women to suicide – if it is suicide at all.

But we really do hate to see Francesco so miserable and therefore have to devise some ways to alleviate his suffering. Before everything went down in Rome, he had such a fun if somewhat reckless side to him we miss. (Truth is we both have a bit of a crush on Francesco, and if ever we part ways as coauthors, Francesco will be to blame.) Can we throw him a party? That should cheer him up, and it will be Carnival season after all. We could hold it at the convent of San Zaccaria. As Francesco is soon to discover, not all convents are for praying – some are for entertaining young gentlemen like himself. At the very least, we should find him some new friends. We’re glad the three-legged chicken decided to stick around - and it’s probably time to give him a name. Thanks to Wikipedia, we know a chicken can live for 10 years – the world record is 16 – so it’s possible he could be Francesco’s sidekick for a good many adventures to come.

Yes, this really is the fun part. And luckily for us, it can’t be rushed. Through this process, the characters come alive: revealing their weaknesses and strengths; what they read, believe, eat, and drink; who they love, and who they’d love to murder…. Really, we only need to give our characters life, and they write the story for us. Often shaping it in ways that catch us completely by surprise, they leave us scrambling to keep one step ahead, praying we’ll be there before our detective backs himself into a foggy, cold Venetian corner and becomes the killer’s next victim….

It is winter here too in Ontario, but already we are looking forward to summer nights sitting in cafés and on rooftop terraces, a bottle of wine between us, having conversations that go something like this:

“We could kill her.” “We can’t do that!” “Why not? It’s not like her husband will care. And if Francesco ever finds out….”

If you should overhear us, please don’t call the police. Instead, join us for a glass of wine - because this time, Francesco is going to need all the help he can get.

***

For those who missed it, be sure to check out the review by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of The Wolves of St. Peter’s, the first installment in our Francesco Angeli series.

***

BOOKS OF NOTE: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood, who left his marketing job at Microsoft to start Room to Read, a charity that since 2000 has built 12,000 libraries in the developing world. An inspiring read. Don’t forget to make a donation!

Mystery plane depicted in our novel Ciao Bella stalked Italian countryside during World War II

2012-01-02T17:15:00.000-05:00

“Pippo flew over Venice every afternoon at around three o’clock,” Anna Friedenberg remembers. Now a resident of Toronto, Friedenberg was only four years old when she lived in German-occupied Venice, yet she still has memories of the plane known as Pippo. “He never machine-gunned Venice or Mestre or Maghera,” she says, naming two nearby industrial towns. “And he didn’t frighten us. He was simply a presence, a fact of life. We thought he was a reconnaissance plane flown by the Allies.”

Although Pippo survives in the oral tradition of Northern Italy, he is little acknowledged in official histories of the war. In fact, no one even seems to know how Pippo acquired his name. One theory suggests it was a play on the Italian moniker for Disney’s Goofy character. Alternatively, it could have been based on the pip-pip sounds he made as he flew overhead. The silly name makes sense to Friedenberg. “We sometimes even called him Pippino(Little Pippo),” she says, using the diminutive. “He wasn’t frightening to us, so why else choose such a name?”

However, not everyone thought of Pippo as a friendly presence. According to Poldo Giro, who lives in the Euganean Hills west of Venice, Pippo was feared by all. Flying only at night, thus only heard but never seen, it was essential to block the lights in your house or Pippo might bomb it. He was rumoured to drop exploding pens or so-called butterfly bombs. He was blamed with strafing the fields and roads with gunfire. And naughty children were sometimes warned: Be good or Pippo will come and get you.

Sometimes Pippo’s identity seems to have been determined by one’s political allegiances. If you were faithful to the Fascists, Pippo was certainly an Allied plane. If you were a supporter of the Allies, the plane was German or maybe even Italian. In any case, it is evident from at least one newspaper of the era that the Fascists used it as a propaganda tool to turn ordinary civilians against the Allies. But whether friend or enemy, Pippo was always he – the plane and pilot a single entity – flying tirelessly all night long over German-occupied Northern Italy.

As it turns out, Friedenberg and her fellow Venetians were probably right when they believed Pippo to be a reconnaissance plane. According to research by historian Alan R. Perry, Pippo was almost certainly a plane, or rather planes, flown by the British Royal Air Force. Unaware of the fears and myths they were generating on the ground, the pilots flew tactical night missions throughout Northern Italy to survey and intervene in German troop movements. The plane itself was most likely a Mosquito, famed for its distinctive buzz, many of which were built during the war by de Havilland Canada at Downsview Airfield (now Park) right here in Toronto.

To a four-year old girl forced to flee Venice after Italy allied with the Nazis in 1943 because her father was Jewish, Pippo was just what she knew. “Pippo was like a joke,” says Friedenberg. “He would come and visit.” She admits though that her memory may be hazy. “I was so young. It was a vague idea. It is like an urban legend. But it is real history.”

These stories are too good to be lost, so if you have any memories of Pippo, please email janiceandgina @ hotmail.com or post here.