Mussolini's Hat

and Other Stories

Twelve characters, twelve stories, a year in the life of a small Italian town.  What will happen to Pia, the young Greek barista, who is in love with the son of the town’s leading fascist?  And how is her fate connected to the sisters who run the shoe shop – Olimpia and Marina? They’ve shared the same bed since they were children, but they have secrets.  Clara, the midwife, knows everyone’s secrets, but not the fate of her absent son.  Living alone, she extends her hospitality to illegal migrants and refugees.

Times are hard in Italy.  Among the buskers and tourists that crowd the piazza, the residents make a precarious living.  In the pizzeria on the corner, Franco is trying to save his marriage and his business.  Rose Umber, a young Canadian sculptor, is desperate to remain in Italy when her visa runs out, but that might depend on a decision taken by the elegant Milanese woman, Anastasia, who walks her badly-behaved dog, Fidel, through the piazza every day.  Separate but connected, their lives – like their stories – are intertwined within the walls of this historic town.