Nardi brings her passion for history to her writing. She believes books are a great way to explore the world, not only geographically but by taking a journey through time. The research underlying her stories has taken her from the official Vatican website to the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington. Among its many collections, the Suzzallo Library currently has over 29,000 books in the Italian language. Nardi’s research has uncovered amazing information. For example, Nardi discovered that Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, had been forced to be an officer in the German army during World War II, and was imprisoned when he tried to escape. He escaped a second time and was again caught; this time he faced execution. In prison he met a surgeon with whom he shared his profound insight about religion. The surgeon was so moved by the conversation that he saved Ratzinger’s life.
Nardi has published nineteen books, some of which are technically novellas. Two of her books have been translated into English. She recently began writing a legal thriller that is based in Seattle. This legal thriller series will be translated into English and soon after her Marcella Randi detective series will also be translated into English. All of her books can be found via her author page on Amazon.
She didn’t begin writing again with preconceived notions about achieving fame and fortune. While money is important, she believes she has something important to say. “I would like to have more and more readers,” she says. Money is important, but she sincerely thinks that she has something to say through her novels. Returning always to the strong connection and passion for life she shared with her father, and why his death spurred her to begin writing again, she considers writing to be a great gift of love. "What I write, I write with my heart.” (Italian: “Quello che scrivo, lo scrivo col cuore.")
Although Nardi was born in Castelfranco Veneto, before the age of thirteen, due to her father’s career, she lived in many places in northern Italy (Genoa, Milan, Florence). Eventually she moved with her family to Taranto, where her mother still lives today. Despite the many moves, Nardi is able to stay in touch with her friends of yesteryear on social media. She said, “I can chat with them every week.”
Marcella Nardi returns to Italy every fall. As a lover of history, travel and adventure, she approaches her trip home as if she is a tourist in her beloved country. She picks a region or area that she has never seen. Last fall she took a trip to Gubbio and explored the region’s once-in-a-lifetime exhibitions, museums and many amazing medieval villages. On each visit home to Italy, she takes five to six days to visit several medieval villages. Alone in her car with time to dream and imagine the beginnings of a new story, she is transported to paradise. After her journey to new and unknown parts, she returns to Taranto to visit with her mother.
As for the town of her birth, Castelfranco Veneto, the original village is still there. The Veneto region of Italy is famous for its wine. Nardi speaks wistfully about her birthplace, “If you go in the morning for breakfast, instead of coffee or cappuccino, the people drink a small glass of wine; especially in the winter, the wine makes the body much warmer.”
the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington