On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal

By Mary Taylor Simeti

An American woman residing in Sicily for the past twenty years portrays the Sicilian landscape and customs--both rural and urban--from the perspectives of both a "foreigner" and a resident.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 8, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307773111

Reviews for On Persephone's Island

[pbjwelch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A charming "My Summer in Tuscany" type of travel book written by an American author who travels to Sicily, marries a Sicilian, and stays. Travel combined with local history and family tales and a very large amount of information about agriculture, local vegetation, crops and local produce. If this is your cup of tea, it is then best read together with the companion book by the same author that covers "twenty-five years of Sicilian Food" entitled Pomp and Sustenance. Ms. Simeti's colourful and exuberant writing style helps add flavor to the journal (pun intended) as she covers her subject.

The paragraphs on agriculture come to life in classic Sicilian recipes still being prepared today. There's not much on culinary traditions introduced by the Vandals and Goths, but the appearance of the Muslim Period in Sicilian history (800s-roughly 1000) meant the introduction of sugar cane, for one, embellished with spices, pistachios and dates, to create many Sicilian desserts with "an Arab imprint, and several that even bear Arab names." This is a reading combination where 1 1=3. Amongst other great additions to world cuisine was tuna. The Sicilians had always been blessed with excellent tuna fishing grounds but it was the Arabs who taught them how to catch them collectively, turning tuna into one of the world's great staples. (And it was a Sicilian who first thought of canning tuna in oil.)

However, the journal alone is a very pleasant introduction to Sicilian life and history and one of the few available in English. I read it having visited Sicily only once but with a return trip planned in a few months' time, for which I am sure I will be much better prepared.

[laugal-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good book abt life in Sicily,its history and traditions. Highly recommended.
Written by an American women that went to visit and never left.She married and rasied her family in Sicily.

[pnorman4345 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mary Taylor went to Sicily after college graduation and married a Sicilian. She presents her life on the island by seasons, not chronologically. She talks of the flowers ( a lot), of the food, the Greek legends, the religious festivals, and the mafia. She also discusses her attempt at coming to terms with having chosen to live her life in sicily.

[nemoman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Simeti is a Radcliffe grad who traveled to Italy to write a paper, and ended up marrying a Sicilian. She recounts her life in and around Palermo as an expat. The book is organized by the four seasons. Although it covers one year, she wanders back and forth through time. She is very observant, especially with respect to the seasonal flora. She also interweaves considerable history and of course food and the mafia. She is an excellent writer (see also "Travels With A Medieval Queen"). This one of the better books I have read on Sicily.