See Naples and Die

Penny Green returned to Italy after a holiday in Australia ready for a challenge. She was looking for a new job and romance, and found work and perhaps love in the toughest Italian city of them all Napoli.Penny takes on her new home with almost the same open acceptance she had when she first arrived in Rome four years ago. Now, though, she is older, wiser and more experienced when it comes to breaking into a new city.She writes with a feeling of growing love for the Neapolitans, for the beauty of the city s waterfront, and the delights of the old town. But she is realistic she also steps into the city s underworld and sees for herself how the camorra operate and how they will murder for no reason.Penny delves into the myths about Naples to discover what aspects of those myths are true today. To help in her investigations she talks to people from all walks of Neapolitan life from the mayor, to her colleagues and landlady, to the family of Annalisa Durante who was killed by the Mafia, to the local friends she makes at cafes and parties.The result is a colourful, first-hand account of life in a city that is filed with fear, crime, rubbish, beauty, great food, generous inhabitants and a thrilling sense of living every moment to the fullest.