Helena Attlee - The Fire in the Mountain: Sicily, Etna and Her People - Book Talk
Schedule
Fri, 19 Jun, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
The Castle Green Hereford | Hereford, EN
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Helena Attlee has worked in Italy for much of her life. She has developed an intimacy with the country that goes far beyond the clichés and the country has been the inspiration for many of her books. This talk will be about Helena's latest book, A Fire in the Mountain, which is a luminous account of Sicilian history, geography, culture and cuisine, as seen from the slopes of Etna.For centuries, Mount Etna has sent lava to engulf the towns and villages, terraced fields, orchards, vineyards, and citrus groves that nestle across its slopes. But still it remains home to a quarter of Sicily’s population. Why? Because Etna has always rewarded her people after every eruption with a landscape of unparalleled fertility, richness and drama.
In this extraordinary new book, Helena Attlee combines travel writing with history, mythology, geology, gastronomy and horticulture to tell a unique story of life in the shadow of Sicily’s most dangerous and alluring landmark. Venturing through lava-strewn fields and pistachio groves patrolled by armed guards; past dusky, basalt-built farmyards, and caves once used to store snow, Attlee gathers tales of the artists, writers, farmers, and scientists who have for centuries been drawn to this unpredictable landscape: from the early Roman, Arabic and Norman settlers, Romantic poets and Victorian geologists, to the local families who live and work there today. It is at once a compelling account of Sicily’s rich and varied past, and a powerful meditation on humanity’s ever-changing relationship with landscape.
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Where is it happening?
The Castle Green Hereford, Hereford, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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