Hi Marc
My husband's family is from Lami on Lipari and we both read the book with a knowledge of the places you spoke of. More importantly I think I could relate to each character so well. My husband's father is a "farmer" in the middle of Drummoyne and despite getting older insists that the tomatoes are planted at the right time and the olives picked the right way. You will be pleased to know that the tomato sauce and wine making processes are alive and well in the inner suburbs of Sydney .
You really made us laugh, cry and reflect on our visits to Lipari and all the islands. We are so lucky to the heritage the family brought with them from Lipari...

Again thank you for such a great book and hope your travels are safe and full of adventures.

With my head often brimming with facts and information, I'm also not highly inspired to read non-fiction these days, but in the last few months I have sat down to read a couple of memoirs, and have been struck by the poetic quality in them. One of these was the much-praised (and rightly so) Finding Nino, by Marc Llewellyn, which tells of an Australian couple, with newborn in tow, who head to an isolated Mediterranean island, learning as they go about what it is to be parents and hold a relationship together. But the star is Nino, an elderly local farmer who introduces the author to the land and organic gardening. It's a gorgeous unfolding story of friendship and connection with the earth that has inspired me to meet the challenges and accept the wonders of life ahead.Here's a taste:

‘I’ve got some things for you,’ he says. ‘Just help me with these cabbages and
cauliflowers and I’ll get them for you.’

We work together planting and watering under the mulberry tree. We are both
experiencing an emotional connection to the things we put in the ground. For him
each plant means a meal in the future, a feast perhaps, and provisions for his family and friends. As for me, I’m experiencing a feeling of completeness, of deep satisfaction, to be working here with my friend beside me, with our hands in the earth and the slightest of breezes playing through our hair.

- part of the editor's letter by Steve Payne, the editor of the ABC's Organic Gardener Magazine.

Just finished your book and I wanted to congratulate you on a great read, loved it form start to finish.

I read it after reading 2 other travel books (Eat, Pray, Love & Slow Journey South) and I think it is a great trilogy of travel books. Your description of the land, sea and people made me feel like I was there and knew them, but I was inspired as well by your thoughts on life and happiness. I also appreciated your honesty, humor and courage.

Highly recommended.

Well done Marc.

Hi Marc
I just finished reading Finding Nino. I found it impossible to put down and resigned myself to spending yesterday in the park finishing it in the sunshine. Your honesty about your doubts, dreams and place in the world was refreshing and it is sure to be a global hit. I loved the way you describe and appreciate the simple things in life that are so special but don't skim over or deny the frustrations. Congratulations.
Cheers
Lulu

Review:
Marc Llewellyn’s new book Finding Nino tells the story of Llewellyn, his wife, new-born baby and dog moving to the Italian island of Lipari. Spending a year or two in a Mediterranean country is not really the makings of a new and original travel story, although many of the most famous predecessors seem to focus on life in France rather than Italy, but Llewellyn does manage to put an original spin on the idea.

For a start, he and his family seem to jump into this plan almost a little too spontaneously. It takes a special combination of naivety and courage to decide to move to an isolated Italian island when your first baby has just arrived, and you can’t really speak Italian. But these things turn out to be a blessing: a child is extremely welcome in Italy, and the locals on Lipari speak a dialect so distinct from Italian that didn’t matter anyway.

Llewellyn’s story moves along with a lot of fun and the Nino of the title is a local man who both teaches and entertains. From spending time on a prawn trawler to learning how to become a peasant farmer, all the while juggling the challenges of new parenthood, Finding Nino is an entertaining read - which may or may not inspire you to take your own plunge and leave somewhere exotic for a while.

There’s a saying that the traveller sees what he wants to see, the tourist sees what he has come to see (G K Chesterton). Marc Llewellyn’s warm and compelling story of a year he spent on Lipari, a spectacularly beautiful island off Sicily, definitely puts him into the traveller category, rather than the tourist.

There are countless books about sea changes, many of them set in France or more visited parts of Italy, but in Llewellyn’s case, the sea change doesn’t end with him living an idyllic existence on the other side of the world. Instead, he comes full circle, or almost, returning to Australia with a new outlook on life, love and work, a wiser man for the experience.

You’d have to wonder what was going through Llewellyn’s mind when he took off with his partner, their new baby and even the dog to settle on an isolated Mediterranean island where he had to fish and barter for his daily bread.

It’s a challenge to be self-sufficient but the challenges of life, love and first-time parenting are even greater. It helps to have a wise neighbour like Nino, who knows a thing or two about life and love.

Llewellyn weaves a beautiful story about how he learns what really matters in life.

I just loved your book. It was so thoughtful and interesting and just about as far from those good life abroad books with all those cliches as you can get. I'm still thinking of things you wrote about weeks later. It's only just occurred to me to seek out your website, i wish you'd made reference to it in your book! Can't wait to read your next book!!

Really enjoyed “Finding Nino”, I only had a couple of days on Lipari a few years ago in April on my way to Siracusa and really wanted to return for longer in sunnier weather and explore the Islands in more detail. I was really able to imagine myself back there from your descriptions and walk the paths you described. I will now go to my photo files to relive it over again.
I was enthralled by the treasures of the Archaeological Museum. An unplanned visit on a cold and wet morning, however I was really glad of the enforced opportunity. I could have spent the day there but lunchtime closing meant I was able to enjoy a delicious repast in a tiny restaurant down near the port (can’t remember its name at the moment).
I wonder if the neat piles of nets stacked on the harbour edge belonged to the MSS Levante . The colour and patterns of fishing nets always attract my photographer’s eye.
When I travel to Italy I always seem to be drawn to the seaside and to Islands, having visited Procida a few times too. I suppose its something to do with my home here on Scotland Island.
Thanks for taking me back to Lipari.
Ciao
June

I read your book in 2 days - found it hard to put down :) I do have to say that it ended up a bit different from what I expected, but well done!

Hi Marc
I just finished reading your book; I've been dipping into it for about 3 weeks now since I bought at the airport on the way up to Cairns last month. It was lovely - gentle, interesting, funny, emotional - just to name a few! Well done -- I hope it's doing really well for you.

Marc, am in the middle of reading your book, Finding Nino. It's a great read, especially since this is the area of Italy where my wife, Maria's family are from (Panarea). We were fortunate to visit the area back in 2002, spending 5 weeks there. Visited Panarea, Stromboli, Lipari and Salina. Your book has brought back a lot of pleasant memories. Thanking you.

Julian Gutierrez

Email Address: jules@northsydneycellars.com

Marc,

I just finished reading Finding Nino yesterday. Great job. I can't get it out of my head. It was recommended to me as a good, "light" read, but it's so much more than that.

Cheers,
Jules

I loved the stories about your relationship with a new baby and finding your new home. It's a really easy read and I can relate totally to all the newborn stuff. I love it! Thanks so much!!

As we have just had two very hot days I decided not to do anything other than read your book. I sat under an umbrella for hours - just getting meals. Well, what can I say? It was a Lovely book. It was very descriptive and brought the island and the friends you made to life. I could picture it in my mind and I felt I was there. All in all the book is so different to any other book about living abroad and holds your interest as a reader. Congratulations on a wonderful book.

I can say it is perfect

I have just finished reading Finding Nino and like many of your other readers, I could not put it down. I loved how grounded this whole experience seemed to make you feel and in the process felt a little of that rub off on me. It really makes you think and appreciate life, the decisions you make along the way and how important it is to be happy.

I am very anxious in reading your book, being Scilian myself, my dad is from Lipari and i went there with him not long ago, im sure i will enjoy your book as it is on order, i will let you know after i have read it...

Thoroughly enjoyed Finding Nino, having been there last year visiting my family on Lipari and Salina, i could relate to everything in your book.

It bought back many memories from when I was there and I will be experiencing a life in Lipari next year in May for 6 months.

Fantastic read!!!!

Love your work! I've just finished your book and I enjoyed it very much. What an adventure for you and the family - both bad and good! It was also lovely to read a living-abroad book with out endless tales of renovation and wacky local plumbers.

I've been meaning to email you since I got back from Tahiti to say how much I enjoyed your book! A great read. The book was refreshingly open and honest, heart-breakingly so in parts (as a first-time sleep deprived mother myself, without extended family support, I could sympathise with Rohan). But with a wonderfully happy ending. Congratulations on a fantastic effort. I hope it does well for you.
Cheers, Briar