A Book and a Bite

The theme of this book group a simple - incontrovertibly fine books accompanied by slightly more controversial, interpretive food pairings for each selection.

For our third book of 2026 we will read Leonardo Sciascia's Sicilian Uncles, originally published in 1958 from a towering figure in 20th century literature a politics. A perfect book for our age of generalized corruption and the fight for a better society. You're very welcome to join us in the first Book and a Bite of the New Year. We will meet monthly, and there is no commitment beyond whichever meeting you decide to attend.

The expression ‘Sicilian uncle’ has the same sense in Italian as ‘Dutch uncle’ does in English, but with sinister overtones of betrayal and inconstancy. The four novellas in Sicilian Uncles, originally published in 1958, are political thrillers of a kind - the first fruits of Sciascia’s maturity. In these stories, illusions about ideology and history are lost in mirth, suffering and abandoned innocence. Each novella has its historical moment: the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Spanish Civil War, the death of Stalin, the ‘events’ of 1848. These occasions and their consequences are registered in the lives of Sciascia’s wonderfully drawn characters. Each has voice, wit and a private history which opens out onto the wider circumstances of his time.