Special relationship | 24 May 2006

In 1990 I published a lengthy article on Sicily — and was astonished by the response from English readers who had connections with the island, in some cases going back 200 years and more. All, with one exception, were nostalgic. The exception was an evidently elderly Englishman who was born in Sicily, but never returned after the war, ‘my frequent clashes with the fascists being a rather unpleasant reminder and cause of my reluctance to revisit the place’. But even his criticism was qualified. ‘I have always been proud of being loosely associated  with these past historical events in Sicily.’

All other correspondents looked back as to a golden age, as though exiled from Shangri-La. They ranged from the old soldier who had taken part in the 1943 landing at Syracuse and fought his way north, and who was captivated by the island despite the terrible events, to the lady whose grandfather owned an ice factory in Palermo and who established a branch of the RSPCA and an orphanage.