Ciao Bella Hardback

There was one subject that was never mentioned when Helena Frith Powell was growing up - her eccentric Italian father.

But one day a letter arrived saying that he wanted to meet her.

She travelled to Italy with her mother and was mesmerised by him, as well as stunned by his advice on sex and relationships.

He introduced her to Rome, Venice and Naples, and they stayed in touch irregularly until she lost contact with him when he stormed out of her wedding, leaving her mother to walk her up the aisle.

Several years later, the mother of three children and the author of two successful books, Helena travels to Italy to write about the glamour of Italian women.

But walking up the steps of her father's old Florentine apartment powerful memories come flooding back, and she realises that there's another story she needs to tell.

She desperately wants to understand the peculiarly strong emotional bonds that tie them together despite his unreliable nature.

In this moving and entertaining journey to the places she visited with her father, Helena combines descriptions of Italy, its food, fashion, culture and people with a search for the most mysterious man she's ever met.