I want to pay my own personal homage to this splendid land that has played such an important role in inspiring my novels.

When I rest my gaze on the countryside, whatever the season, whatever the weather, I can feel that calm and inner peace that I need to concentrate and that stimulate my ideas.

From my bedroom here in Montecalvi I can see the wide bay of Follonica surrounded by a circle of hills sweep down to the sea as far as the narrow indented spit of land known as Punta Ala.

Suvereto is right there, hidden by gentle green slopes, a little cluster of stone houses surrounded by the massive town walls, with its town hall, the cloister of the old monastery, its narrow roads, lanes  and steps: the fascinating aura of the past brought to life and made real.

Every town and village in the area proudly bears the traces of a distant past, just like Suvereto. Their stones speak of centuries of history, of kings, emperors, popes and saints who walked along their roads. Campiglia, Massa Marittima, Castagneto Carducci, Volterra, Siena, San Gimignano, the mysterious and fascinating hermitage of San Galgano with its ancient cathedral roofed by God’s glance… I could go on endlessly.

And as you travel through these precious lands you are surrounded by the lush vineyards whose grapes are famous worldwide, by olive trees with narrow silvery leaves and glimpses of landscapes that seem the work of our old masters.