Kate Langbroek’s deliciously funny, irreverent and inspiring memoir about moving to Bologna with her family to seek la dolce vita is a glorious reminder of what we can learn from the Italians about living life to the full – and what really matters when the world goes to hell in a handbasket.
‘I wasn’t looking to fall in love. It just happened. There were moments, encounters as fleeting as feelings. Sometimes – tellingly – they emerged from chaos.’
When Kate Langbroek first dreamed of moving to Italy, she imagined a magnificent sun-drenched pastiche of long lunches and wandering through cobbled laneways clutching a loaf of crusty bread and a bottle of wine, Sophia Loren-style, while handsome men called out ‘Ciao Bella!’
In the stark light of day the dream Kate shared with her husband Peter after an idyllic holiday in Italy seemed like madness. They didn’t speak Italian. They knew no one in Italy. They had four children. Kate also had the best job in the world on a top-rating radio show with her longtime friend, Dave Hughes.
But the siren song of Italy was irresistible. This would be the adventure of a lifetime, a precious opportunity to spend more time with their children – Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jannie – and it came from a deep well inside to seize life after they almost lost Lewis to leukaemia.
Ciao Bella! is about having a dream and living it as Kate shares the sublime joys and utter chaos of adapting to a new life in Bologna, what you discover about yourself when you are a stranger in a strange land, and how she fell in love.
With a country.
Deliciously funny, irreverent, inspiring and often deeply moving, Ciao Bella! is Kate’s love letter to Italy and her family. It is also a glorious reminder of what Italians can teach us about living life to the full – and what really matters when the world goes to hell in a handbasket.
About the Author
Kate Langbroek is one of Australia’s most beloved media personalities. Her ferocious wit, playfulness and irreverence have made her an audience favourite in a career that has spanned prime time television, top-rating breakfast and drivetime radio, acting, scriptwriting and journalism.
Kate first came to our attention on Triple R in the mid-1990s and then as a regular on The Panel, one of Network Ten’s longest-running shows. She went on to guest on other popular shows like Thank God You're Here and Dancing with the Stars.
In 2001 Kate helped catapult start-up radio station Nova 100 to instant ratings success. Along with co-host Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, Kate continued her stellar radio career on SCA’s Hit! Network and is now on the ARN Network. She broadcasts nationally every weekday on KIIS FM’s 3pm Pick-Up and is a regular guest on Channel 10’s The Project.
While juggling a frenetic career, marriage and parenthood, Kate and her husband Peter decided to make life even more interesting by packing up their four kids and moving to Bologna in Italy. The result is Kate’s first book, Ciao Bella! Six Take Italy.
