The Wedding Officer - Anthony Capella

'The Wedding Officer' appears at first glance to be a culinary historical romance, along the lines of Joanne Harris' 'Chocolat'. 'The Wedding Officer' is set in and around Naples during the second world war. James Gould, an officer in the British Army is assigned to Naples to vet the fiancées of soldiers. He arrives to find a city corrupt, with a thriving black market, bribery commonplace, and where almost half the female population are working as prostitutes. James sets about in a very bumbling, British manner to stamp out this inequity, and to clean up the streets of Naples. As one might expect, his initial attempts at closing down the black market are ...  Read the complete review

Young officer James Gould arrives in Naples in 1943, charged with the task of putting to an end the constant stream of applications from Allied soldiers to marry Italian women. With prostitution and hunger rife in the city, James must decide which relationships are genuine and deny permission to wed to those he suspects are not. Used to paltry rations, James and his fellow officers are delighted when a new cook, Livia, arrives at their quarters and delicious meals arrive at their table, introducing them to foods and flavours they have never experienced before. But unknown to James and the men, the cook has been sent to work there by the local mafia who are ...  Read the complete review