A ROSS-SHIRE man who published a novel inspired by Orkney’s famous Italian Chapel has drawn on the landmark building for a second book.
Last year, Philip Paris, who lives between Fearn and Tain and works from home for a printing trade magazine, published The Italian Chapel, a book blending historical fact with fiction, with a story of forbidden love and lifelong friendships torn apart, set against Orkney’s famous symbol of peace.
The chapel, created inside two World War II Nissen huts placed end-to-end, was constructed by Italian prisoners of war who were helping to build the nearby U-boat defences, the Churchill Barriers.
Mr Paris’s second book, Orkney’s Italian Chapel: The True Story of An Icon, will be launched at a book-signing event at Waterstones bookstore in the Eastgate Centre, Inverness, at 7pm on Thursday, June 10.
Mr Paris said: “This is a very different book altogether as it is non-fiction, the result of about four years’ worth of research on the chapel.
“It includes a lot of images and photographs never seen by the public before which I was luckily enough to source from some of the descendents of those involved in the building of the chapel.”
The author’s passion for the chapel in Lambholm began when he and his wife Catherine spent part of their honeymoon on the island.
Using much detective work, Mr Paris spent years tracking down former POWs and descendents of the key players in Camp 60, including the granddaughter of the British camp commander, Major T. P. Buckland and the senior Italian soldier, a sergeant major whose family now live in England.
“The chapel has become a bit of a passion for me,” Mr Paris said. “The novel told a lot of the story but there was a lot left unsaid.”
Admission to the book signing session is free. Mr Paris will also give a talk at Nairn Book Festival earlier the same day. For further details call 01667 451804.