Keeping the Feast

December 15, 2009
A former overseas bureau journalist recalls the tragic circumstances that befell her husband and the European city that repaired their broken spirit.

Butturini and her husband John Tagliabue returned to Rome in 1992 in a desperate attempt to rekindle the vibrant, happy life they'd embarked upon after falling in love there seven years prior. Both were foreign news reporters: The author was an East European correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and Tagliabue was the Warsaw bureau chief for the New York Times. Butturini fondly revisits her travels to Rome in her early 30s, entranced by the stunning abundance of culture and embracing"the magic of honest food." She and Tagliabue had been dispatched to Prague in late 1989 to report on the anti-Communist revolution, but the assignment was a violent disaster and the start of the couple's"private tornado." Butturini was beaten repeatedly in the street by anti-terrorist police, and her husband took a sniper's bullet, shattering his pelvis. Long months of rehabilitation followed, as did a hepatitis B diagnosis and a bout of clinical depression, spurred on by the drowning death of Butturini's mother. Recalling their everlasting love of Italy, they returned to Rome for much-needed healing, reinvigoration and the"normalcy" that had so lushly enveloped them years prior. Though Tagliabue's extended illness tested her patience, a new life awaited them both. The author tempers both of their complicated, depressive family histories with memories of Sunday family dinners, homemade soups and pizzas, and childhood Christmases."In our family the stomach was only slightly less important than the brain," she writes,"and according to my mother, clearly more trustworthy and often more intelligent."

A touching, if melancholy, feast for the senses, with a dash of inspiration for hearts in need of nourishment.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 12, 2010
Former foreign correspondent Butturini shares a memoir of her first years with her journalist husband, John Tagliabue. Bringing out the sights, scents, and tastes of Italy, she delicately and expertly simmers together memories of violence, pain, and depression with stories of hope and love. During the turbulent years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Butturini and Tagliabue are both badly injured while on duty in different conflict-torn areas of Eastern Europe. Butturini's body heals well in the care of her new husband, but Tagliabue's injuries are more serious and go beyond flesh and bone. As he gains strength, an unrelenting depression grips him, and Butturini uses every ingredient she can gather to keep him engaged and alive. Verdict Butturini's writing about Italy, food, family, and friends will appeal to readers of travel memoirs; her treatment of injury and illness will provide inspiration to those who seek healing; and her straightforward accounts of the turmoil during the fall of the Soviet bloc will interest those who enjoy history and politics. Highly recommended.-Jane Chamberlain, Normal, IL

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
Married just a few months, Butturini endures the horror of her foreign-correspondent husbands shooting while he covered the collapse of Romanias Communist regime. Although he survives infection and numerous surgeries, the trauma opens the door to deep depression. This mental unwinding particularly terrifies Butturini, whose own mother suffered from postpartum depression and eventually committed suicide. The two retreat to their beloved Italy, where a daily regimen of good food and caring friends sustain them both. Thanks to competent medical attention and constant love, he gradually recovers, but rejoicing over the birth of their own daughter abruptly ends with the onset of another downward spiral. Butturini seeks comfort, if not answers, in family history and finds grace to sustain her. This is an unsentimental first-person account of living with severe depression, and Butturini finds real ground for hope despite the diseases intractability and its potential for genuine tragedy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)