By Parker McKenzie
The second book written by an author from The Patch is set to take readers on a trip to Venice in a “psychological mystery with a historical background”.
Dolores Bellemo’s The Autumn of Letting Go was published on 24 November and follows an Australian journalist reluctantly returning to Venice to face her past, finding rumours of blackmail and murder in the iconic city as she investigates the death of an old woman.
Ms Bellemo said her writing has been inspired by writers like Pascal Mercer, Robert Dessaix and Philip Roth.
“I started writing a short story and as I progressed I thought this could be a good book,” she said.
“I just kept writing a story that was quite personal to me and being realistic about it.”
Her first book, a memoir titled Crazy for Italy, detailed her time spent within her husband’s country of birth.
Ms Bellemo said the difference between writing fiction and non-fiction is that the latter is more restrictive.
“You’ve got to be careful of what you’re saying because it’s coming from the truth with a memoir, whereas with fiction, you’ve got all the liberty to say whatever you like,” she said.
“I always say to people fiction is the real truth, especially when I’m talking about something I know a lot about. It’s something I had to get out; it’s sort of been both exciting for me and cathartic.”
Ms Bellemo retired from secondary school teaching to pursue her passion for writing and has written several published short stories alongside her two books.
She said despite a similar setting between The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith and The Autumn of Letting Go, her own novel isn’t a love story.
“Within the setting of Venice, I do write about its fascist past,” she said.
“I feel that I do speak a lot about women and women that don’t have a voice. That is quite relevant to what’s happening at the moment.”
Autumn Of Letting Go can be purchased online and Ms Bellemo hopes to have the book stocked in local Dandenong Ranges bookstores soon.
