Titling a Book is Not for Sissies – Part II

Ciao Bella also went through multiple titles. Our first and favourite was Summer of Grace. It worked on so many levels, not just that our main character's name was Grace (also Graziella). For several reasons, our agent and editor didn't like this. And so it was back to the drawing board.

Our next favourite title was The Resistance Fighter's Wife. That too was rejected as being too similar to title trends out there (The Memory Keeper's Daughter, et al). (The Partisan's Wife would have been appropriate, except that in North America partisan refers to political differences. Janice's son thought this would be a perfect title for a Washington, D.C. thriller.)

Then we hit upon Bella Ciao, as in the famous resistance song. However, as we tested it out verbally on people, they kept looking at us blankly, since they didn't recognize the expression. A few even thought it was the name of a Chinese woman (Bella Chow), perhaps the sister of Olivia Chow, a Canadian politician from Toronto! And so we reversed the order to the more familiar Ciao Bella, which also reflected the book's often bittersweet tone.

Here's a list of the rejects, as you'll see much longer than The Sidewalk Artist's!

After the War Came Summer
After the War Came a Soldier
After the War a Soldier Came
After the War
After the War, Summer Came
The Summer After
And Then Came Summer
A Distant Land
Where Angels Fear
The Tread of an Angel
Song for a Summer's Day
A Little Bit of Grace
The Light of the Hazy Moon
The Light of the Moon
The Strength of a Cloud
Returning from War
Bel Tempo
Mal Tempo
The Botanist's Daughter
The Monk's Wife
The Priest's Wife
Love in the Euganean Hills
The Resistance Fighter's Widow
The Widow
The Summer after the War
Everything in the Universe
A State of Grace
Starry, Starry Night
The Veneto Sun
A Little Bit of Italian Sun
A Bit of Italian Sun
The Light over the Alps
Evening over the Alps
As Long as Ugo Came Home
Darkness Fell with the Rain
Improvisation
Sweeter than Love
Seen from the Moon
On Loan from the Gods
Goodbye Sweetheart
The Sound of Bells
Into the Beautiful
The Summer After the War
An Italian Rhapsody
Becoming Graziella  (or Growing into Graziella)
Grace's Path
A Little Bit of Grace
Grace on the Mountain
Grace in Italy  
To Love, To Lose 
Loving Graziella
That Summer
Summer after War
Love after War
Best and Worst Summer
Graziella's Yellow Dress
A Yellow Dress
Yellow Dress, Violet Eyes
Eyes Violet, Dress Yellow
Violet Eyes
Love in the Hills
Grazie Graziella
In Love with Graziella
Italy after the War
An Italian Summer
Italian Summer
The Hills of Italy
An Italian Love Story
An Italian War Story
Bella Italia
Ciao Italia
Bittersweet Italia
Amore Italia
Amore Italiano/a
A Harrowing Grace
Bring Me the Summer Sun
The Summer Sun
Summer Made the Light Escape
Bring Me the Sunset in a Cup
All the Summer Laughed
The Summer's Empty Room
A Summer in Italy
An Italian Story
An Italian Tale
Adagio Summer
An Italian Concerto
An Italian Elegy
Intermezzo
An Italian Sonata
An Italian Symphony
Buona Notte
Arrivederci
When Sunrise Grows So Near
The Murmur of a Bee
Something in a Summer's Day
How the Sun Rose
There's a Certain Slant of Light
Past the Setting Sun
A Summer Afternoon
A Quietness Distilled
When Summer Days are Flown
A Solitude of Space
Bloom Upon the Mountain
Summer's Recollection
Enough Love
Enough Tears
Enough Worrying
Finding Enough
Enough Heartache
Enough Waiting
Summer After War
The End of Summer
Summer's End
War, Plants, Summer
A Woman in Italy
Love in a Time of War
La Famiglia
Love, Honor, Betrayal
Wartime in Italy
When Summer Ends
When Summer's Gone
The Last Echo of Music
The Last Echo of Summer
The Terrible, Beautiful Summer
Trees on the Hills
The Green Hills of Italy
On the Side of a Mountain
Summer in the Hills
Summer in the Italian Hills
An Italian War Story
The Leaves of the Trees
A Song in the Rain
Love in the Italian Hills
Music in the Italian Hills
Italian Music