Polenta at midnight

The Inglesethe English guyof this real-life story marries into an Italian family and is gently pulled into the Court of the Patriarch, playfully named Garibaldi. He is transformed by his father-in-law and given the name Il Vagabondo. Thus begins the acute observance of an enchanted landscape in North York that could be anywhere: one that exists beyond the barriers of language, where a backyard, a hometown, a garden or a cantina become the living stage for dance, marches, and serenades of love and grief, gusto and suffering. The book is loosely structured as an Italian opera told across a series of acts and scenes, with two intermissions and three curtain calls, in which the author and the reader are introduced to the love and passion of his adopted Italian family. Come with me to Garibaldis Court and I will tell you tales of gusto and enchantment. We will sing, dance, laugh, weep and eat polenta at midnight al fresco. I promise you homemade red wine and frittata. Have some more. For me! We will work hard and then we will rest.