In her latest book, The Italian Soul, Judith Valente offers practical guidance into how we can transport a taste of the Italian “good life” into our own homes. Reviewed by Tracey Edstein.
Many readers of this review will be familiar with the whimsical writings of the late Michael Leunig. His Common Prayer Collection includes the epigraph, “Love is like bread. It has to be made fresh every day.”
I believe Judith Valente and the Italians she both loves and admires would agree. In a chapter titled ‘The Bread of Life’, she draws the effortless connection between the integral role of bread – made fresh every day – in the Italian way of life and the sacred nature of this most universal of elements in Christian rituals.
In Judith’s home of the US, and in Australia, bread is often mass produced, lacking character and not exactly a taste sensation! Clearly, in Judith’s beloved Italy, the bread is different.
She quotes her Italian professor, Dr Jessica Sciubba, who returned home to Italy after living in America:
There is nothing more comforting and heartwarming than walking around the narrow streets of my hometown around 8.30am. Every morning the … crisp fragrance of freshly baked bread coming from one of the historic bakeries in the town’s center permeates every street. … For most Italians, no meal is complete without a slice of bread to accompany it.…
Not only is the sacred nature of bread recognised, but the culture does not allow it to be wasted. Who knew that bruschetta, toasted bread with olive oil, tomatoes and basil, evolved as a way to use stale bread?
This is but one example of Judith’s affectionate exploration of la dolce vita in her quest not only to embrace in her own life the Italian way but to impart to readers of like mind, and soul, the insights her time in Italy has gifted her.
Author of ‘The Italian Soul’ Judith Valente. Image supplied and used with permission.
Judith is a lay associate of the Benedictine monastery of Mount St Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas, and the Benedictine way is integral to who she is. In The Italian Soul she shares her learning that her grandmother grew up in Cassino, where St Benedict lived his final years and where he wrote his Rule for monastic life. “Monks and monastic sisters still follow that fifteen-hundred-year-old text today, as do … laypeople like me who seek to live the monastic values of community, consensus, hospitality, prayer, and praise in daily, secular life.”
Woven through The Italian Soul, and through the Italian way, are these values, which Judith now sees anew: “Suddenly the genesis of my fascination with monastic life became clear. It was as though I had been hardwired by my genes to develop a passion for contemplative living. My Italian heritage led me there.”
The opportunity to contemplate beauty is never far away in Italy and Judith’s visits have taught her to “readjust my focus. … I’ve learned to look more deeply for the beauty at hand. It might be a colorful pattern of fallen autumn leaves strewn across a sidewalk …”
Much of the beauty in Italian villages and cities derives from the patina of age. As Judith writes, “Destroying historic buildings in Italy is nearly impossible.” Judith observes that this is not so in the US, despite the fact that “Beauty connects us to a place. It allows us to experience grace wherever we are, which is both a spiritual and very Italian way of looking at the world.”
‘The Italian Soul’ by Judith Valente, Hampton Roads Publishing.
A notion that recurs in The Italian Soul is that of looking beyond what is usually understood, perhaps narrowly, as religion. Judith and the Italians she encounters seem to me to have a broader, more inclusive approach to spiritual matters. The author is clear in articulating this: “I write especially for those seeking to deepen their interior life and follow a spiritual path that travels beyond institutional religion, but does not necessarily dismiss it. A path that does not depend solely on a particular doctrine, but recognises that the sacred also abides in the simple practices of daily life.”
Judith’s Italian sojourns abound in experiences of these simple practices: the ringing of church bells, breaking bread with friends, family and neighbours, a whole country being drawn together by music, and woven through it all, chitchat, small talk.
Judith says that meandering conversations are integral to Italian life; “Italians … have made an art of conversation. In an age of increased cocooning, where one needn’t get out of bed to purchase groceries … Italians still prefer to be out and about. … getting outside and engaging in conversation ward off isolation.” It doesn’t matter what is discussed, momentous or trivial; what is vital, life-giving, is the exchange itself, face to face, eye to eye.
The Italian Soul is an easy read and a rewarding one. It could accompany you on a journey, or you could dip in and out of its pages. Either way, you will find it, to use a phrase that has endeared itself to Judith, poco, ma buono – little, but good.
The Italian Soul: How to Savor the Full Joys of Life, Judith Valente, Hampton Roads Publishing 2025, available on amazon.com
