Novel set in the Spanish Quarter (a novel of Naples)

16th December 2019

Lost in the Spanish Quarter by Heddi Goodrich, novel set in the Spanish quarter (a novel of Naples).

Naples… an infernal heaven – Marquis de Sade.

The actual Spanish Quarter in Naples is made up of a grid pattern of streets, designed originally as Spanish military barracks. Naples is essentially the main character in the novel. It serves as a glorious setting for the blossoming relationship between between Pietro and Heddi (as per the author herself) develops. It is the fictional narrative of her time as a student in Naples. Pietro and Heddi come from different sides of the track – he is from a seemingly poor part of the country, illiterate farming stock and she is from Washington DC.

Caffè Gambrinus gets a good look-in. A landmark coffee house, it was a literary hub in the 1800s. Degas and Goethe are both known to have frequented it. It will certainly be on my list to visit when I am in the city! (And a top tip from the author, Italians NEVER EVER order a Cappuccino after midday, got that? If you do, you might incur disapproving looks from the waiting staff!).

The author has a real skill for walking her characters around the backwaters and alleys of the city, observing the people who populate the city, describing their interactions and the trill of their voices. Even the paniere  (baskets) being dropped from the top floors of the buildings to collect and drop off items on the ground below are so much part of the panorama. The description and the dissections of the very fabric of the buildings will enable any traveller to delve into a colourful and vibrant city via this novel of Naples.

Pietro and Heddi are students and are immediately drawn to each other. Their relationship develops and soon he takes her to meet his parents. His mother takes against her, this thin woman from across the Pond – she has in mind a local candidate who would be far better wife material, suited to her son. Much of the couple’s courtship is set against this animosity.

We know from an exchange of emails – written at a later stage – that things do not pan out well between the two of them.Yet this doesn’t marr the whole tenet of the story. It is a thoughtful ramble through life and love of two young people.

An excellent choice if you are looking for reading material and you are heading to Naples any time soon. At first I really took to the cover, bright, modern but then I realised it’s quite hard to read the title. What do you think?

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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