Diary of Writing Italy’s Sorrow

11 July, 2005
I’ve been despairing about how to find someone to help me with Italian and German translation.  Professional translation services are simply not practical, and furthermore are far too expensive.  What I need is someone who is bright, and so who will catch on quickly; it would be helpful if they are also at least vaguely interested in the subject; and they would also need to accompany me on trips to interview people.  It’s actually quite a tall order, but the other day we were out to supper and in the course of the conversation we got onto the subject of Italy.  She mentioned she spoke Italian, so I immediately asked her whether she fancied doing some translation work.  No, she said, but she knew someone who might, and gave me the number of a good friend of hers, Julia Cardozo.  So I rang Julia, and she said, yes, she would be interested.

Today we met in Shaftesbury and to my enormous relief, she’s willing to help. Julia is clearly very switched on, seemed interested in the subject, and despite having four children aged three to twelve, did not balk at the idea of coming to Italy with me to interview veterans.

So now I need to find someone who can help with German translation.  I can see why so many British and American writers concentrate on the Allied side of things