Children of the Volcano: Finding Freedom and Making a Home for Three in Sicily

An uplifting, humorous memoir of a single mother building a new life on a beautiful Sicilian island.

‘Immensely enjoyable.’

Chris Stewart, author of Driving Over Lemons

‘I am woken early the first morning in our new home by Juno shaking me vigorously, her huge eyes shining with excitement, pulling off the covers, trying to drag me out of bed. She scampers out onto the terrace and I run after her to find my tiny girl in yellow pyjamas standing on the terrace wall shouting, ‘Look, look, look, Mummy,’ laughing and pointing astonished and incredulous at the sunrise. The sky is afire, coral, violet, tangerine; the islands of Stromboli and Panarea glowing semi-translucent, as if melting from within.’ Reeling from a broken relationship, Ros Belford decides the best chance she has of healing while giving her daughters a childhood to remember is to move to Italy and live by the sea. After a false start in a town where machismo is ingrained, they find the small, lush, delightful island of Salina. Izzy and Juno grow up playing on the beach, learning to swim over volcanic bubbles, hearing tales of Aeolian witches and watching Stromboli erupt on the horizon. It is not entirely paradise, however. The school is atrocious, there are power cuts and an earthquake, and property speculators threaten the island’s fragile beauty. But an eclectic community of islanders take them to their hearts, friendships are forged and Salina becomes home. Full of humanity, vitality, honesty and optimism, Children of the Volcano is for anyone unwilling to give up dreams of adventure and excitement simply because of parenthood, lack of money and not getting things right the first time.

‘Thank you, Ros Belford! This delightful memoir has brought back to me the wonder, the excitement and the challenges that come with embracing a new life in Sicily.’

Mary Taylor Simeti, author of On Persephone’s Island

 

‘I’m not surprised Ros Belford found herself at home on Salina, a little island near Sicily full of poets. Her account of raising two young daughters there is as fresh and as sharp as a salted caper, and as warm as the Sicilian sun. Beautiful prose and a brilliantly adventurous story.’

Susan Smillie, author of The Half Bird

 

‘A joyous tale of following one’s dreams, despite the obstacles.’

Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller

Read an extract. Also available in ebook.