In honor of publication day for The Unfinished Angel, here is a photo of the old stone tower upon which I based the Angel's home in this book. This tower is on the campus of the TASIS school in Montagnola, Switzerland. I love this place!
Here is some of what the Angel says about the tower:
Maybe my tower. . .is not the most attractiful or the most specialty tower in Switzerland. It is just a tower, after all, like so many other towers. . .
It is a tower that stands tall and upending like a good soldier, for nearly four hundred years, not wobbling or falling down. . . There are no windows. You reach out and there is the air, just there. You are high, high above the other houses, and the only things as high are a few trees and, down the road, the tall stickly spire of the church. . .
So, maybe you might think it is nothing specialful, this tower, but to me it is the finest of all the towers in all the world. From the balcony I can see the mountains in a ring all around, a circle of mountains, and on the very top of those mountains . . .is white, white snow, and below the mountains is a blue-green lake, and above the mountains at night is a blue-black sky all pokeled with blue-white stars. From my tower, I can see all the casas in the village and I can see all the peoples coming and going. I can see all the birds flying in the air and the creatures crawling on the ground.
[Note: those aren't typos. This is the way the Angel speaks.]
And that angel, that angel speaks....like an angel. Love seeing the tower, love hearing the angel describe home.
ReplyDeleteHow perfect! I had a fuzzy picture of the tower forming in my head, but I think if I had seen this picture elsewhere I would have recognized it immediately.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! There are so many threads and connections to be made with this heartfelt tale. Having seen you in action (doing a reading) at the National Book Festival in D.C. makes this story come alive. I am hearing your voice as I read. What a gift!
ReplyDeleteLara Ivey
Grow Up With Books
www.growupwithbooks.com
I knew it must be Casa Fleming as I was reading it. There was no other picture in my mind!
ReplyDeleteKen: ?Which Ken is this? I'm glad it's someone who knows the spot.
ReplyDeleteKen V, formerly-formerly of TASIS CH, and formerly of St. John's Belgium, now Youth Librarian at the Atlanta Fulton County Public Library. Thanks for feeding my nostalgia with Angel.
ReplyDeleteAh, Ken! Thanks for filling me in!
ReplyDelete