Sitting amid the pile of junk mail catalogues is The New Yorker double week issue, August 16 & 23.And the cover is ”Tuscany” by Lorenzo Mattotti, with the classic Tuscan countryside and a medieval hilltop town which could easily be Casole d’Elsa, where I was. (Here’s an interesting site to talk about cover art of all kinds.)
I flip through casually to see the offerings, and squeal with delight when I see Joan Acocella’s article on Agatha Christie, “Queen of Crime.”
Why? Because I brought The A.B.C. Murders and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to read in that Tuscan countryside. I hadn’t read Christie since high school, but she popped into my head when I was thinking about what to books to bring. Easy, engaging reading, and so very English, which of course has its own tradition in Tuscany.A little nod from the universe, perhaps, that holiday and “real life” don't have to be such separate spheres. Something I hope to remember when my vacation glow fades. Much more about both Italy and Christie after the jet lag.
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