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WORK TITLE: Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
WORK NOTES: trans by John Brownjohn
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 5/30/1963
WEBSITE:
CITY: Cologne
STATE:
COUNTRY: Germany
NATIONALITY: German
German son of Italian immigrants * http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0320342/ * https://www.bitterlemonpress.com/blogs/authors/90764550-mario-giordano
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL EDUCATION:
University of Düsseldorf, degree in psychology.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Novelist.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Of Italian and Bavarian ancestry, Mario Giordano was born in Munich, Germany, on May 30, 1963. A writer of novels, books for adolescents, and screenplays, he offers a humorous portrait of Sicilian society and gastronomy in his works and also created the detective Auntie Poldi for his crime novels. He writes idiosyncratic characters and eccentric comedy. Giordano holds a psychology degree from the University of Düsseldorf. He lives in Cologne, Germany.
In 2016 Giordano published his debut crime novel, Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, translated by John Brownjohn. The book is narrated by the unnamed nephew of sixty-year-old Munich retiree and widow Isolde Oberreiter, who decides that Sicily, overlooking the ocean, is the place to go to drink herself to death, having not much else to live for. She buys a villa in the tiny village of Torre Archirafi and hires the handsome nineteen-year-old Valentino Candela to do chores. Poldi’s nephew follows his aunt’s adventures to help him write an epic family saga spanning three German-Sicilian generations. However, he is not getting far on his book.
Meanwhile, Poldi’s life gets unexpectedly more complicated when she finds Valentino’s dead body on the beach. The daughter of a detective chief inspector, Poldi thinks she is the right person for the job of finding out who killed Valentino. Her suspicions lie with the high society types who own mansions in the area. Never one to turn away a man in uniform, Poldi enlists the help of detective Vito Montana, who would rather cover up the high-profile mayhem of the prominent and influential people of the town. Calling the book a light-hearted tale, a reviewer online at Crime Time liked “the deliberately old-fashioned way that each chapter is headed by a potted summary of what’s to follow.”
Reviewers praised Giordano’s debut story. A writer in Publishers Weekly admired the book by calling it a winning debut, adding that the description of Poldi’s pursuit of Valentino’s killers is marked by breezy good humor. The writer further stated: “Wry, appreciative observations of Sicilian food, people, and history herald a series worth tracking.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor reported: “Giordano’s wit and his formidable heroine’s wisdom combine to make this debut a smash.” On the His Futile Preoccupations Web site, a writer noted: “The appeal of the promised series will depend very much on how the reader connects to the character of Auntie Poldi. If you are looking for light, amusing crime set in an exotic location with a confident, older protagonist, then this book is a pleasant way to spend a few hours.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, July 18, 2016, review of Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, p. 188.
ONLINE
Crime Time, http://www.crimetime.co.uk/ (June 12, 2016 ), review of Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions.
His Futile Preoccupations, https://swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.com/ ( November 29, 2016), review of Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions.
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ ( June 30, 2016), review of Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions.
Mario Giordano, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in Munich in 1963 and studied psychology at the University of Düsseldorf. He writes novels, books for adolescents, and screenplays. He lives in Cologne. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is his first crime novel.
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
263.29 (July 18, 2016): p188.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
Mario Giordano, trans. from the German by John Brownjohn. Bitter Lemon, $14.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-908524-69-0
Giordano's winning debut and series launch unleashes 60-year-old Isolde "Poldi" Oberreiter, the daughter of a Munich police detective, on the unsuspecting populace of the Sicilian village Torre Archirafi, where the fiercest conflicts center on where to buy the best fish, or whether coffee should be drunk solely as a sugar delivery system. Poldi, who was once married to the anonymous narrator's late uncle, arrives as a depressed retiree intending to drink herself to death. But she changes her mind after she decides to investigate the shotgun murder of 19-year-old Valentino Candela, whose body she finds on a beach. Poldi, who has a weakness for good-looking policemen, enlists the aid of a reluctant police detective, Vito Montana, who knows all too well that powerful local figures are best left undisturbed, regardless of the crime. Despite some clunky moments, such as the recurring appearance of the figure of Death, Poldi's pursuit of Valentino's killers is done with breezy good humor. Wry, appreciative observations of Sicilian food, people, and history herald a series worth tracking. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions." Publishers Weekly, 18 July 2016, p. 188. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA459287515&it=r&asid=446cfb7c1551fc8696bc57cc36316f35. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A459287515
AUNTIE POLDI AND THE SICILIAN LIONS
by Mario Giordano, translated by John Brownjohn
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KIRKUS REVIEW
An ex-pat from Munich finds love and murder in Sicily.
When Isolde Oberreiter decides at age 60 to move from Munich to Sicily “to drink herself comfortably to death with a sea view,” her decision makes a crazy kind of sense. Winters in Munich are not for the faint of heart. Her ex-husband, Peppe, now deceased, was from Catania, and his three sisters, Luisa, Teresa, and Caterina, welcome her to join them there. But Isolde, known to her family as Poldi, always flies to her own compass. Instead of Catania, she buys a villa in tiny Torre Archirafi, down the street from the Bar-Gelateria Cocuzza . Because even intrepid Poldi can’t manage a villa on her own, she recruits Valentino Candela, a local jack-of-all-trades, to help with the restoration. Valentino is a great worker until he disappears. Suspecting foul play, Poldi invades Femminamorta, a local estate Valentino mentioned just before vanishing. Valérie Raisi di Belfiore, the estate’s young owner, takes to Poldi, inviting her to dinner with her elderly cousin, Domenico Pastorella di Belfiore, owner of a still larger estate. Charmed as she is by Sicilian high society, Poldi isn’t getting any closer to finding Valentino. And she isn’t finding people with whom she really clicks—that is, until she crosses paths with police detective Vito Montana. Poldi is an irresistible newcomer with a mature voice and a vision of who she is and who she never will be, not afraid to take chances, and willing to fail. She's grateful to the universe for what it offers and accepting when it doesn't provide more. A drama queen who isn't fooled by her own production, she knows the value of living deeply.
Giordano’s wit and his formidable heroine's wisdom combine to make this debut a smash.
Pub Date: Sept. 16th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-908-52469-0
Page count: 320pp
Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
Review Posted Online: June 30th, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15th, 2016
November 29, 2016 · 9:32 pm
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Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions: Mario Giordano
“Fragrantly, in a white caftan and gold gladiator sandals plus dramatic eyeliner and plenty of rouge, she used to sail into the bar like a cruise liner visiting a provincial marina.”
german-literature-month-2016Yes it’s German Literature Month 2016 and what would this event be without a crime novel? Last year for GLM, I reviewed Thumbprint a 1936 novel from Friedrich Glauser; this year it’s Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano. The author, a child of Italian immigrants was born in Munich, and this first crime novel was originally published in German. Interestingly, the novel’s protagonist, Auntie Poldi is a German woman who decides to move to Italy. …
auntie-poldi
The novel’s narrator is Auntie Poldi’s nephew, a would-be writer who plans to write a “big, epic family saga spanning three German-Sicilian generations” but, so far, has made little progress. He relates how Auntie Poldi, at age 60, decided to move to Sicily “intending to drink herself comfortably to death with a sea view.” The nephew comes to visit once a month, living in his aunt’s attic ostensibly to work on that great novel, but also to keep an eye on his aunt. Auntie Poldi, a “pig-headed Bavarian,” is a sort of larger-than-life Auntie Mame figure; her hobby is to collect photographs of “good looking traffic cops from all over the world.”
My Auntie Poldi: a glamorous figure, always ready to make a dramatic entrance. She had put on a bit of weight in recent years, admittedly, and booze and depression had ploughed a few furrows in her outward appearance, but she was still an attractive woman and mentally tip-top-most of the time, at least. Stylish, anyway.
Auntie Poldi (Isolde) had a career as a costume designer, and married a tailor, Peppe (Giuseppe).
Poldi and my Uncle Peppe had shared a grand passion, but alas, a few things went badly wrong. Two miscarriages, booze, my uncle’s womanizing, divorce from my uncle, my uncle’s illness, my uncle’s death, the whole issue of the plot of land in Tanzania and sundry other unpleasant twists and turns, setbacks and upheavals of life had stricken my aunt with depression.
Poldi’s retirement to Sicily has her relatives concerned, but she refuses to move closer to them in Catania, and instead moves to Torre Archirafi (found photos of the place online, and it is spectacular). The novel goes on to include some unpleasant realities about living there along with details that bring the location to life.
Poldi, in common with those who have strong personalities, has theories on just about everything, and while she may think she wants a quiet retirement, it’s clear that that will never happen. This indomitable woman turns into an amateur sleuth after the disappearance of a young handyman she employs, and she rapidly gets in much deeper than she expected. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions would be easy to classify as a cozy mystery, but I wouldn’t place the book fully in that subgenre: it’s too tangy a book for that classification. It’s definitely an amateur sleuth book, on the light side of crime, with an emphasis on humour and irrepressible figure of Auntie Poldi, but the book is also a statement about being comfortable in one’s own skin. The appeal of the promised series will depend very much on how the reader connects to the character of Auntie Poldi. If you are looking for light, amusing crime set in an exotic location with a confident, older protagonist, then this book is a pleasant way to spend a few hours.
Review copy
Translated by John Brownjohn
Auntie Poldi And The Sicilian Lions Mario Giordano (translated By John Brownjohn)
Russell James
Giordano's first novel (translated from the German, since he has lived there since 1963) is a light-hearted tale of a sixty year old amateur detective, the frisky Aunt Poldi, recently ensconced in Sicily, who becomes convinced that a handsome young man she has had her eye on has been murdered, and that she can find by whom. Off she sets on her scatty quest, which is soon derailed when she herself is suspected of having killed him. She soon brushes this aside and develops a fresh crush on Commissario Montana. She is already, of course, in love with Sicily – its food, people, scenery and ice-cream.
A touch I particularly liked in this gentle beach read was the deliberately old-fashioned way that each chapter is headed by a potted summary of what's to follow. Chapter 7 "Tells of falling between two stools and the three phases of seduction," while Chapter 8 "Tells of Inspector Chance and how Poldi discovers the identity of Mr X with his help. She has to swallow her pride several times in quick succession, and she isn't the only one."
Well, it's different.
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
Mario Gordano (translated by John Brownjohn)
Bitter Lemon paperback, £8.99, 978-1-908524-69-0