Day by day, sometimes hour by hour, Italy seduced me with tastes, sounds, scents, and sensations I’d never encountered before. Of course, countless others have swooned for its food, wine, incomparable art, or breathtaking scenery. I fell for the Italians. With scarcely a shred of their language, I yearned to communicate with these intriguing strangers — “more marvelous than the land,” as the British author E. M. Forster aptly said.
Yet even after La Bella Lingua’s success, Italy didn’t loosen its grip on me. I became captivated by the real woman immortalized by Leonardo in his most famous portrait —and wrote Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered.
“God, no!” I replied. The very notion seemed unthinkable—and impossible. Italy wasn’t done with me. Without realizing exactly how, I became appassionata,a word that dates back to the fourteenth century and translates as “taken by passion.” I didn’t fight this sweet seduction. I indulged it, embraced it, delighted in it.
Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World’s Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the soon-to-be-published LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. For more information on her books and upcoming events, visit her website: www.diannehales.com.