Gallery

Veronica (right) with one of her oldest friends, just after finishing secondary school

Veronica in front of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, in Istanbul, where she lived in 1992-93

A view across the Bosphorus from Rumeli Hisari, Istanbul’s medieval fortress. “I loved the fresh air up there,” she says, “with never the slightest whiff of a kebab!”

In Istanbul she lived in one of these wooden houses overlooking the Bosphorus, as does the heroine of ‘Evil Eye’, Celeste

A shop selling “nazar boncugu” charms against the evil eye. “They were everywhere in Istanbul” says Veronica, “and led to my mini-obsession with the concept of the evil eye in all the cultures around the Mediterranean”

One of Veronica’s favourite views of Istanbul

The Georgian and Colombian students, whom Veronica befriended while working in London’s Docklands, inspired some of the characters in “Friends with Secrets”

Veronica and her husband at their wedding in Sicily, 2004

In Egypt on their honeymoon: “My Sicilian husband went brown on this trip,” says Veronica, “whilst I went very, very pink.”

The fishing village where they lived in Sicily

The novel “The Dangerously Truthful Diary of a Sicilian Housewife” takes place in this village, and in the busy city of Palermo

Veronica stealing a tranquil moment in Palermo’s botanical gardens

A favourite place: the botanical gardens

Veronica guarding her bookcase at home. She gives books away but hates lending them. “I can’t bear worrying about whether I’ll get them back,” she says

It was at family Christmas gatherings like this one that Veronica first learned to play the hilarious card games unique to Sicily

Veronica and her son by the Christmas tree in Sciacca, southern Sicily