The Wedding Officer

April 30, 2007
London-based culinarian Capella (Food of Love) returns with the WWII-era story of Livia Pertini, a beautiful young widow who leaves her family's destitute country osteria to try to find work in Naples. There, English Capt, James Gould has been assigned the task of discouraging British soldiers from marrying Italian women, many of whom have turned to prostitution in order to survive. At first Gould is a stickler for the rules, closing down restaurants and denying couples permission to marry. But when Angelo, the maitre d' at restaurant Zi'Teresa, tricks him into hiring Livia as the officers' cook, things loosen up considerably. Capella celebrates war-torn pleasures of the flesh with a winning in-the-moment lightness.

March 15, 2007
Like his debut, The Food of Love, Capella's second novel is a sensory delight, highlighting the relationship between culinary pleasures and sensual romance. Wartime Naples is the setting for an unlikely love affair, which begins when British captain James Gould meets Livia Pertini, a widow who becomes James's cook. James is the so-called Wedding Officer, the soldier who approves marriage requests between local Italian women and British men, and humor is never in short supply as he repeatedly encounters prostitutes desiring to make advantageous marriages. With Livia, James experiences passion not only through their physical desire but also through Livia's food, with its rich colors and satisfying flavors. The trauma of wartime strains their relationship, however, especially when Livia must barter with an unsavory man in order to obtain medication for her ailing father. Capella's original tale is an expertly crafted work of women's fiction, complete with captivating characters and scintillating romance. Recommended for all public libraries.Sheri Melnick, Harrisburg, PA

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2007
Livia Pertinis misfortunes cascade on one another like lava flowing down the flanks of Vesuvius, but she defiantly guards her dignity and self-respect even as other girls in war-torn Naples resort to selling themselves to survive. Even losing a beauty competition to her cow leaves her unshaken. When she finally does fall for a persistent, handsome soldier, he is shipped off only to die on the Russian front. As the Allies retake Italy, Livia exercises the one skill that sets her apart: her talent in the kitchen, especially her knack for making outstanding burrata: fresh, rich, leaf-enrobed mozzarella. But life and love rebound for Livia with the arrival of Captain James Gould, assigned to prevent hasty marriages between occupying Allied troops and Neapolitan prostitutes. Livia becomes the captains cook, and her cuisine inexorably opens the door to his heart. Capellas vividly sensuous command of the arts of both food and romance will attract readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)