Head Over Heel: Seduced by Southern Italy by Chris Harrison

4 CommentsMonday • June 27, 2011 • by michelle

The book jacket of Head Over Heel: Seduced by Southern Italy* promises a “hilarious and captivating story” that features “[a] whitewashed fishing village, a shapely signorina and an infatuated young man — head over heels on the heel of the boot.”

And boy does this book deliver.

Head Over Heel is a sweet, funny love letter from Aussie Chris Harrison (@harrisonwriter on Twitter) to both his Italian wife Daniela and her country, which he, erm, has a special relationship with — the kind I think many of us expats in Italy can understand.

Harrison shares tales from his two years of courtship with Daniela, a Puglian gal he met in Ireland and then followed home to the heel of the boot. Yes, Daniela comes from one of *those* small towns with the gorgeous scenery, peculiar characters, and happenstance encounters, and Harrison does an excellent job of vividly painting each scene from ridiculous meetings with the lollipop police (carabinieri for the uninitiated) to the over-the-top religious festivals that his wife actually shuns. I love that many of Daniela (and her father’s) ideas run counter to southern Italian stereotypes — but not always and not totally, which simply enriches the book even more.

Harrison is a keen observer and brilliant writer, and as someone who happens to live in a similar small town in southern Italy, I found myself laughing and nodding along in agreement quite often. His portrayal of southern Italians is never condescending though, as he repeatedly acknowledges that his reality and frames of references are simply different from theirs — this is not an easy balance to strike, and I commend Harrison for the respect and love that shine through his words even when his criticisms might otherwise be considered biting.

I must also mention that although the book is laugh-out-loud funny at times, Harrison excels when tackling difficult subjects with conflicting layers of emotion. Scenes involving Daniela’s father, who has been afflicted with Alzheimer’s, and a rescued dog are particularly poignant and well-written.

I give Head Over Heel five espresso cups out of five.

I simply loved every moment while reading this book, and I anxiously await the sequel, which I imagine will feature some of the unsolicited Italian advice Chris and his wife Daniela have surely received on raising children. Auguri on the latest addition by the way!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a cleverly written tale about adjusting to life in a new country. If you’ve read Pasquale’s Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town by Michael Rips or Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted by Annie Hawes (both of which I also loved), I think you’ll find that Harrison’s book fits in nicely with that genre, i.e., what I like to think of as loving, all-in-good-fun portrayals of sometimes quirky-to-foreigners Italian life.

Make no mistake: you do have to have a sense of humor in general — and about Italians and Italian life in particular — to enjoy this book, but if you have both and are in the mood to get lost in Puglia (and who isn’t?), do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.

Don’t blame me, though, if your next vacation just *has* to be to the south of Italy. . . blame Crris Arriston with H in front (read the book).

*This link to buy the book goes to Amazon.com, but for those outside of the United States (and for those in the U.S. who for whatever reason don’t use Amazon), I recommend The Book Depository, which has free shipping worldwide; you can select your currency from euro, pounds, and U.S., Canadian, and Australian dollars.

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