Il Pranzo di Mosè

“The way we experience food and feasts, paying attention to the well-being of our guests as we learned from Mom and Aunt Teresa, deserves to be preserved and handed down to our grandchildren. Because it brings us happiness.” – Simonetta Agnello Hornby

From the bestselling author Simonetta Agnello Hornby comes a book about a typical Sicilian family and their strong sense of hospitality.

Simonetta opens the doors to her family home in Mosè, along with her sister Chiara. Mosè is a magical place in the countryside of Agrigento, in Sicily: an early 19th century farm built around a medieval tower and surrounded by fields, orchards, almond trees, olive groves, all of this just ten minutes from the sea. It is the place where the Agnello family have spent their summer holidays for five generations. And for Simonetta it is basically the home of her soul and those dearest to her; it appears in all her autobiographical stories.

During Simonetta’s family’s stay in Mosè, a ceaseless procession of relatives, friends and distant acquaintances appears at the gates of the estate. And all are welcomed, housed, fed, put at ease. This is what Il pranzo di Mosè is all about: the art of welcoming, the ability to receive a guest, in spite of of his social class or attitude, in the most appropriate way.

Those who are familiar with Simonetta’s stories will soon recognize the main characters of her autobiographical books. Just as La mia Londra was a very particular and personal guide to London, Il pranzo di Mosè is a very personal and unique treatise on art of family hospitality, based on the history and tradition of the Agnello family.

Simonetta Agnello Hornby, was born in Palermo in 1945. She is by trade a lawyer, and began her writing career with La Mennulara (2002), and quickly followed with La zia Marchesa (2004), Boccamurata (2007), Vento scomposto (2009), La monaca (2010), Camera oscura (2010), Il veleno dell’oleandro (2013). She has also published La cucina del buongusto (with Maria Rosario Lazzato, 2012) and Il male che si deve raccontare (2013). She has lived in London since 1972.

Pages: 192

Size: 14 x 21.5 cm

Binding: softcover with flaps

Imprint: Italiana (literary fiction/memoir)

Copies in print: 45,000 copies (1 reprint)

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