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Laura Di Martino • Indie Author
Insiration
Inspiration for Cremona House
While preparing a unit of work for her Year Nine History students in 2014, to mark the Centenary of World War One, Laura came across an unusual photo in the Archives of the State Library of South Australia when searching for information about local War Memorials from the Great War.
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The black and white photo was taken in front of the Semaphore Jetty where a temporary memorial had been erected and featured a well-heeled, large crowd celebrating Empire Day in May 1917. Among the thick crowd was a small horse-drawn covered ice cream truck with a distinctly Italian surname emblazoned on the canvas covering. So began the search for the story behind this picture, the fruit of which is presented to you in this debut novel. This is a work of fiction, but faithfully and deliberately based, as much as possible, on the real history of the early Italian migrants to Adelaide and the history of the Italian diaspora of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
To protect the privacy of the families involved, the names have been changed, but the story is largely based on the variety of experiences of these early migrants whose numbers were few compared to the post-WWII emigrations, and therefore, whose stories are often overlooked. Lest we forget, our early pioneers, from every nation they came.
Holiday-makers flocking to the jetty and beach at Semaphore, South Australia; the jetty is decorated with a patriotic archway where flags fly over the message 'For King & Empire', Chinese lanterns and coloured lights add to the atmosphere of festivity as a horse drawn ice cream cart and other booths do a roaring trade.
Courtesy of State Library of South Australia, [PRG 280/1/25/90]
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