I knew that I had to start on my second novel, and that I wanted it to be about a different aspect of the Italian resistance movement. Beyond that, I had no idea what I was going to do. So when my closest Italian friend offered to show me around his home city of Genoa, I leapt at the chance. Could this be the setting of my next book? What followed was a love story: a process of discovery that would shape the next years of my life. First of all, I fell in love with Genoa. This historic port...