I’m very excited to announce that my new book. “In the Shadow of the Olive Tree” will be published on 29th July – in just a couple of weeks from now.
Here’s the cover, photograph by Tom Weber
This work of fiction is set in Puglia, the land of olive trees and little cone shaped houses called “trulli”.
The story:
Two strangers, both newly divorced women, are determined to start life afresh amongst the olive groves of Puglia in the South of Italy, as they both attempt to put their old lives behind them.
Claudia has a seemingly perfect life: a successful novelist, a loving mother, beautiful and admired by all, but she’s haunted by a decision she made. Her confidence is destroyed at the hands of another. Is she able to move on, put it behind her and find happiness once more?
Janet is determined to make a new life for herself after her husband left her for a younger woman, and she yearns to live in an idyllic trullo under the Pugliese sun.
As the paths of Claudia and Janet cross and their lives become entwined, one woman’s dream is threatened by the past of the other when they discover it’s not always easy to escape one’s previous life. Sometimes it follows in unexpected ways.
The Itrian Valley in Puglia is the setting for the story, which revolves around two women whose paths in life cross with disastrous results.
Puglia is the largest olive producing area in Italy with around 70,000,000 olive trees, 84 of which are ours! We live here all year round and the book has many details and descriptions of everyday life here.
The book is available for pre order. Click HERE
It will also be available shortly on Amazon and Goodreads. I will keep you updated.
Here’s the link for Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B099JCNWQQ
Orna O’Reilly
Ostuni, Puglia.
Orna O'Reilly: Travelling Italy 
I’m intrigued, especially because, I, too, yearn to live in an idyllic trullo under the Pugliese sun! Congratulations on your upcoming publication!
Thanks Karen. We look forward to welcoming you to this corner of Italy when you arrive to research your next writing project. 🙂
Congratulations, Orna! Sounds like something I’d enjoy reading.
janet
Thank you Janet. I hope you’ll let me know when you’ve read it. It’s set right here where we live in Puglia, so lots of descriptions of everyday life among the olive trees. Orna
Thanks Orna I will get it as longing to read it . I am sure that the sales will go well. Xx
Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks Di. The initial readers gave me great feedback, so I’m hopeful! Give me your opinion – all criticism accepted! xx
Congratulation Orna,
Sound like a wonderful read!
I’m putting in my pre-order. Can’t wait to read it and learn more about beautiful Puglia as well.
Best regards
Cathy
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Thanks Cathy. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know! 😘
Are you a fan of Frances Mays? I just finished reading Women in Sunlight which is also about women wanting to start theirs lives over in Italy. Your book promises to be juicier. I am looking forward to reading it.
I used to enjoy Frances Mayes’s books a lot back in the early 2000s. Now, I must admit, I haven’t read anything by her in many years. However, I have spent quite a lot of time in Cortona, before I finally moved to Italy, and used to walk past her house almost every day. In fact, I blogged about it a few years ago.
I do hope you’ll enjoy In the Shadow of the Olive Tree. I greatly enjoyed writing it and, as it’s mainly set here in the Valle d’Itria, where I live, it should have a good “sense of place” which I think is very important in a book which is set in a locale unfamiliar to most readers. I tried to achieve the same effect with my previous book, The Blonde in the Gondola, as I was living close to Venice when I wrote it and was spending a great deal of time there.
Let me know what you think of it. Thanks for the nice comments.
Orna