Last night, Sasha and I had the privilege of attending the premier
of Sofia Papazova’s newest book Seven
Olive Blossoms. Sofia is the mother
of one of Veronica’s classmates. Their
family has become friends with our family over the past two years.
Sasha read her first book and was impressed by her amazing
use of descriptive language. Last night
at the premier, several excerpts from here newest book were read. The one that impressed me the most was a section
that described the making of a salad.
You would not think salad construction would make for good reading, but
the way it was described was fascinating.
The book critic who spoke last night was very impressed with Sofia’s
ability to describe in detail places in Italy that she has never been. She certainly did her research, which, in my opinion,
separates the good writers from the great ones.
At just 35 with two books already written, Mrs. Papazova has
a promising career as a novelist ahead of her.
We appreciate being invited to her big night.
 |
| Sofia Papazova signing a book for one of her many fans. |
 |
| Sofia's two books. The newest one is on the right. |
 |
| A discussion of the book with the author. |
I feel my duty as editor and publisher to clarify Lora Shumkova's statement made at the launch of the novel that Sofia Papazova wrote about Tuscany without having visited it. Shumkova never claimed that Sofia hasn't been to Italy. The truth is, Sofia has visited Italy; here you can even see her pictured in a gondola at my beloved Venice.http://venezia-emilia.blogspot.com/2014/01/sofia-papazova-in-venice.html
ReplyDeleteAs far as Shumkova's claim is concerned, it is any presenter's responsibility to present the facts to the public in a way that is not confusing. In this case, we run the risk that Lora's words would be taken at face value by some readers who would grow prejudiced about Sofia's novel, doubting its qualities since "it speaks of Italy, but the author hasn't even been to Italy." The nature of Sofia's writing is more complex and cannot be reduced to naturalistic truths.