A memorial will be unveiled in Cardiff on the 2nd of July, the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the Arandora Star, when 500 Italian internees lost their lives in World War II. The new novel The Hokey Pokey Man touches on that tragedy which affected the lives of very many Welsh-Italians.
This debut novel is an emotional family saga spanning generations and set against the backdrop of two world wars in Europe. The Hokey Pokey Man follows the fortunes of Tino, a young peasant boy from the sunny mountains of southern Italy, whose destiny lies in the bustling city of London and the vibrant seaside town of Swansea. This compelling story is touched with poignancy, a bitter-sweet account of love and loss, shattered dreams and irredeemable regrets.
Yet it is alive with laughter and hope for the future, a colourful journey of personal growth for Tino with a promise of great rewards. But will it also cost him the things he values above all else – the love of his sweetheart Mara and the safety and happiness of his family in Italy?
The author Anita Arcari says, “I felt compelled to write this book after a visit in 2002 to the general area where my my father was born in Italy. We stumbled upon an extremely remote, ruined ‘cappella’ – chapel. On closer examination, we found an inscribed plaque which described how it had been built by my grandfather on the birth of his first son. No one in my generation had even known about its existence. I went home to Wales asking myself, ‘What did it look like when first built? Did they celebrate? Were they proud of it?’
“I determined there and then that somehow, one day, I would ensure the cappella was restored to its former glory. That dream was finally realised, with the help of the local villagers, in July 2009 – the centenary of the cappella. There have been books written about Italy and others about Italians in the UK, but to my knowledge, no-one has ever written about simultaneous events in both countries in any depth. The Hokey Pokey Man also delivers a strong sense of setting, and demonstrates how the rugged beauty of the Italian mountains and simple life style shapes the main character’s innocent personality. This contrasts strongly with the lifestyle he is forced ot adopt when he comes to the UK – London, then Wales.”
Anita Arcari was born in Wales to a Welsh mother and an Italian father. She works as a computer science lecturer in a Carmarthenshire college. She has been writing fiction for as far back as she can remember and her love of the written word shines through in her debut novel. She has drawn on her own family history to produce this evocative and moving story, which will appeal not only to Welsh-Italians everywhere, but to anyone who enjoys romantic fiction.
