Joining us today is Stella Mazzucchelli, author of Silk Flowers Never Die. We’ll talk to Stella about her book and her hopes for the future.
CM: Welcome Stella. It is wonderful to have you here. Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
SM: Thank you for inviting me. I was born in Athens. My father was Greek and my mother South African. I fell in love with Riccardo Mazzucchelli when I was sixteen. At eighteen, being too young for my parents consent, I eloped to Zambia to marry him. I gave birth to my son Fedele the same year. After twenty-two years, as most teenage romances, we grew apart and I made the decision to abandon the marriage. Needless to say, the bond between us has remained strong. Unfortunately, to see me through those roller-coaster years of extreme love and turmoil I began to rely heavily on alcohol so much so, it became an issue that affected my everyday living. Although I have had various relationships, I have never been tempted to marry again.
Riccardo went on to marry Ivana Trump which unfortunately coincided with my son’s onset of schizophrenia. Living through the initial stages of his illness was the most traumatic experience of my life, especially as I was still in the process of combating my own demons. After my son got married and his wife gave birth to his daughter, his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. During that period there was an abundance of clashing emotions: Love for my newborn granddaughter Katerina, witnessing Naomi wither away from cancer and not only fearing for my son’s health, but the incapability to ease his pain as his family was slowly disintegrating. Needless to say, when my daughter-in-law died I stepped into her shoes to raise Katerina. My love for her was incentive for me to stop drinking. Today, she is a feisty, beautiful, intelligent, thirteen-year-old who lives with me in Athens. She is the bonus God gave me to counteract the sadness.
CM: Before writing Silk Flowers Never Die, did you ever desire to become a writer?
SM: Being open-minded, honest, and very observant are essential ingredients for an author. I suppose I had the itch to put pen to paper, but my life was filled with so much upheaval that there was no room for such luxury. Not forgetting the fact that it would have been impossible to write with a hangover and blurry vision!
CM: Tell us about Silk Flowers Never Die.
SM: As mentioned above, I take my reader through my son’s illness and how I confronted, learned to live with schizophrenia. I describe the courage, love and care my son showed his wife as she battled cancer. I open my heart without shame admitting my alcohol dependency and the effect it had on my life and my family. Last and not least, the beauty of having a newly born handed to us in the midst of such misery.
CM: What is it that made you want to tell this story?
SM: I wanted to educate society on the subject of mental illness. Due to the stubborn “stigma” which remains relentlessly attached to mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia, families of the inflicted are condemned to live a life of shame and isolation. I wanted to portray my son’s courage and tenderness towards his wife during her battle with terminal cancer. I hoped that in my modest way I could contribute towards dislodging the ‘stigma’ which weighs heavily on a great deal of sensitive, talented and caring people. Therefore, I have donated all my proceeds of Silk Flowers Never Die to a U.K. based charity named SANE.
CM: How long did it take you to bring this book from the first draft to the final published product?
SM: It took five years. A long time for sure, but I had to teach myself to write, I had to assist my mother who eventually died and I was not very familiar with the computer. It did not come easily, but I persevered.
