In the spotlight is Judith Valente and her new book The Italian Soul: How to Savor the Full Joys of Life. Valente — a journalist, poet and the author of six spirituality titles and three poetry collections — worked previously as an on-air correspondent covering faith and values for PBS and was also a staff writer at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal and was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Valente grew up in Bayonne, N.J., where she was surrounded by a large, boisterous Italian American family.  We discuss: >> The contemplative life >> How Italians make an art of conversation >> The sanctity of the dinner table>> “Slow tourism” >> The life expectancy of Italians >> Why procreation among Italians has slumped >> The Catholic Church >> Italy’s reverence for its art and architecture >> Elena Ferrante and her Italy-based Neapolitan novels >> Etc.  Learn more about Judith Valente here: https://www.judithvalente.com/ Novelist Spotlight is produced and hosted by Mike Consol. Check out his novels here: https://snip.ly/yz18no       Write to Mike Consol at [email protected]