Shadows of the Adriatic - Tessa Floreano - Qs&As

  

Today, we're continuing our author interviews for the Historical Writers Forum's new anthology, To Wear a Heart So White. I'm delighted to be sharing an interview with Tessa Floreano on the Crowvus blog, to talk about her story, Shadows of the Adriatic. Read on to hear all about her inspiration, writing believable characters, and encouraging readers to see beyond the surface...

First of all, can you please tell us about yourself and your writing?

I am a dual Italian-Canadian citizen residing in the Pacific Northwest, which makes me a pseudo-American, at least that is what The Husband calls me. I enjoy traveling, gardening, reading, and all things Italian. By candlelight and moonlight, I write history about Italians—real and imagined—with a laptop, typewriter, and fountain pens at the ready. My historical era sweet spot ranges from the Gilded Age to the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. My stories are always about Italians because they are the people about whom I know most. For settings, I use locales in Europe, the Pacific Northwest, and points in between, both big and small.

In relation to Shadows of the Adriatic, where did your inspiration come from?

All four sets of my grandparents and their ancestors trace their roots back to 1640—and I am not yet finished with the family tree—to San Daniele del Friuli, the same small pre-Alps town in Italy. The town is in the northeasternmost corner of the boot, known as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, about an hour or so north of Venice.

My father was the first to leave after the devastation of WWII, and while his whole family immigrated to eastern Canada, my mother’s family stayed there. We visit them regularly and my research journal fills up quite quickly when I’m touring around the region. Hence, when I saw the call for submissions to the anthology, I jumped at the chance to set a story in Burano, a favorite spot in the Veneto, the region bordering my ancestral one.

Lovely Burano is well-known for its lacemaking and colorful houses, and I thought it would be great fun to imagine some mayhem among all that loveliness. And what better time to set the story than during Carnevale when masked encounters lead to all sorts of mischief?

I was already finalizing my next novel, Murder & Matrimony in the Castello, which is set in 1899 in Padua, also in the Veneto. I was not ready to leave the Veneto nor the Edwardian era or, as the Italians call it, Bella Epoca, so I stayed with the same period in the Shadows story.

A lot of Shadows of the Adriatic is dialogue-led. What would you say are the pros and cons of this style of writing?

Too much dialog in a story and the reader misses out on the details around settings, backstory, characterization, and so on. Too little dialog and you run the risk of bogging down the reader with too much information dumped on the page to prove you did your research. I think both the writer’s experience together with beta reader/critique partner's feedback are good gauges for knowing when you have crossed the line into “too much.”

My stories are a mix of genres—historical being the predominant one—sprinkled with romantic, mystery, and suspenseful elements. The format of the latter two genres leans heavily toward a faster pace which is easier to achieve with dialog, especially dialog that is composed of shorter sentences. This gets tricky when you blend in romance, which tends toward a slower pace. Most readers won’t believe a couple who gets together within an unrealistic timeframe, though I hope they do in mine, recognizing that short stories have less time to build new relationships.

Also, when writing historical tales, it is incumbent on the author to show the period without heavy-handedness. Exposition can kill the pace, but dialog keeps the story moving. Dialog is a great way to show characterization through voice.

Finally, readers who love historicals come for the details that enrich the story and provide a light educational touch. That can be deftly handled in conversation, too. 

The locations and events in the story really envelop the readers. How did you tackle your research to create this setting?

Events and settings are often where a story first percolates for me, followed by the plot and characters. Strange I know because many writers start with character, but to each our own.

Burano is one of those places where the beauty and pace of life are enviable, and I find I can immerse myself in the day-to-day there quite easily. Even from a historical perspective, immersion for me is seamless because much of the architecture and culture is so prevalent in Italy. Burano is a lagoon city, so one can look out over the Adriatic Sea and see that the view has not changed much over the centuries. That makes it easy to put myself in my character’s shoes when I know that she and I have the same view decades apart.

I have been to Burano several times and it is one of those places that just stays with you. The Husband and I have this running joke: When we’re on vacation, I turn to him and say, “We should move here,” and Burano is high on that list. Like many people, I am more relaxed on vacation. I believe relaxation frees up the imagination.

I am a storyteller by nature so it is normal behavior for my species to observe everything when we are in the wild, hence I record my observations for later use, just in case I might need it. When an opportunity arises to write a story or contribute an essay somewhere, I can draw on a cornucopia of existing content. I still have to do a lot of research, especially if I am writing about somewhere I have never been. I have so many snippets of stories that they will outlive me, and though I am not a fan of huge crowds, I do hope to make it to Carnevale at least once so I can channel Giacinta.

Shadows of the Adriatic is very much the story of Giacinta and her search for personal freedom. Did you base her on anyone? Or is she entirely fictitious?

Giacinta is a figment of my imagination. She was initially named Ambra, but then I realized that she needed a much more pleasant-sounding name. I went to high school with a girl named Jacinta and her name just popped into my head when I was thinking of a new name.

Freedom to move about the world and make her own decisions is paramount to Giacinta. When she gets a taste of it, she isn’t so quick to give it up. When it is threatened, she goes to great lengths to preserve it, even at the risk of turning her back on her family and putting her reputation in jeopardy. But sometimes, one has to resign themselves to the shadows, where the future is uncertain and a leap of faith is either a path to liberation or madness.

I was schooled by nuns and have visited several convents in Italy, Japan, and North America, so the convent scene in the book is one that was very comfortable to write. My Maltese aunt has a sister who is in a convent. One of the strictest rules of that prayer-focused order is the only way a nun can leave is once every five years to visit family or through death. Hard to fathom devoting oneself to such an existence, but perhaps some women see no other alternative for themselves. I know of other orders where they take a vow of silence and do not interact with the public. Both of these were inspirations for various parts of the story.

In Giacinta’s time, when women came of age, they had two options: marry or join a nunnery. I have long wanted to explore this and finally got the chance in Shadows. Many women in history chose the latter option, finding it preferable to being at the beck and call of husbands, children, and inlaws. For centuries, many mature widows with grown children entered the convent for the safety and community it provided them. You will have to read the story to find out which option Giacinta chose.

Without giving too much away (!), this story throws up all sorts of moral questions in relation to societal and personal principles. What (if anything) do you hope readers will take from this story in terms of crime and punishment?

In my stories, including Shadows, I am comfortable defining crime as either black or grey, but never white. Others draw a hard line on black, unwilling to consider context, like the examples in Shadows.

Crime is committed by people that run the gamut of social stratification and that’s certainly true in my story. Throughout history, wrongdoers excuse their amoral acts and justify unethical behavior, and many get away with it, which, when witnessed, is extremely frustrating. Conversely, there are many examples of a miscarriage of justice, where an innocent person stands accused, and after being judged by a jury of their peers, is found guilty, and left to rot away in a prison cell, sometimes until they die. In a war perceived as just, many people excuse war criminals who kill on command. I could go on.

The question of why people choose to commit crimes—often in the face of severe consequences—is at the root of criminal psychology, a class I took my senior year in high school. Human interpersonal violence is often carried out by people acting impulsively, fearfully, insecurely, passionately, vengefully, or misguidedly. A lot of it is reactive aggression. Some of the worst atrocities have been motivated by Utopian ideals crafted to uphold moral fiber and manage the exact opposite.

In my story, I hope readers give pause to the juxtaposition of the grey; that is, where a crime is both committed in shadow and where shadows cause one to commit a crime. Either way, those shadows linger in one’s mind, heart, and soul long after a crime is committed. For many criminals, whether they pay for their deeds through incarceration or not, the shadows they eternally carry can sometimes be worse punishment. Finally, though I believe evil exists, biological and cultural evolution have favored cooperation and compassion in humans, and thus, I know in my soul what powerful healers' forgiveness and atonement can be.

And finally, what’s next for you and your writing?

Coming this November, Murder & Matrimony in the Castello is about an 1899 Christmas Eve wedding in a castle gone awry. This is a historical mystery with romantic elements that takes place in a fictitious town near Padua, a large university city in northern Italy. Once again, the setting was the driver behind this story.

As I heard it, an Italian multi-millionaire was driving his Bentley down a country road when a For Sale sign at a castle caused him to pull over and inquire within. He immediately bought the castello and is slowly renovating it, intending to preserve it and make it available for others to enjoy, though he and his family will never live in it.

In my mind, the man made a pseudo-altruistic purchase. When I found the castle’s website, its ancient history begged for a story to be set there. Kind of my way of indirectly thanking the owner for saving such a big piece of Italian heritage in my ancestral neck o’ the woods.

I developed the story during the early part of the pandemic so I was unable to visit the castle. I will not name it here until I have been there myself and can sense the energy to see whether it piques my imagination for further tales.

To Wear a Heart So White is available here on #KindleUnlimited

So let's meet the book...

A cost for every action, and a price for every deed.

The Historical Writers’ Forum proudly presents seven stories of Crime and Punishment, from across the ages. From an anchoress to a war hero; from Italy to Missouri; this anthology has a story for everyone.

Included stories are:

The Ignoble Defence - Virginia Crow

Agatha’s Eyes - Rachel Aanstad

A Pact Fulfilled - Eleanor Swift-Hook

Carte de Viste - Ronan Beckman

A Dish Served Cold - Brenda W. Clough

Shadows of the Adriatic - Tessa Floreano

A Dangerous Road - D. Apple

Now, lets meet the author...

Tessa Floreano

Tessa Floreano is a writer of history about Italians—real and imagined—who sets her stories in Europe, the Pacific Northwest, and points in between.

As a story-attentive being, curiosity greatly influences my writing life. Following my curiosity while at home or traveling has led me to develop many story ideas I cannot wait to share with you. I love writing about the past because of the rich historical detail I'm drawn to when researching. The past has a way of making sense of what's happening in the modern world, allowing us to feel we're not alone in going through today.

As a content architect by day, I think I shine as a storyteller by night when writing my historical tales by moonlight or candlelight. As a community historian, I recently wrote ITALIANS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, the first book in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series about early Italian settlers in this area. For more stories about Italians in the PNW, subscribe to my free Substack: tessafloreanowritings.

In other news, I am a dual Italian-Canadian citizen residing in Puget Sound with a husband and freeloading purrball as companions. Fan of pens + notebooks, strong tea, the Salish and Adriatic Seas, and all things Italian, PNW, & Canadian.

Be sure to visit my website, tessafloreano.com, and sign up for my newsletter to stay abreast of my upcoming events and writings.