My life, Sophia Loren

This is the Dutch cover

This September Sophia Loren celebrated her 80^th birthday and to mark the occasion she wrote her autobiography. She writes about her early childhood in poor circumstances and the difficult relationship with her biological father, her first success in the film industry and immense successes she would have. She tells about her family, her bond with Napoli and her short stay in prison when she was accused of not paying her taxes.

She is not very forthcoming about her marriage to Carlo Ponti, but it is clear they made each other very happy for more than 50 years.

I loved to read the anecdotes about the many famous people she worked with from the international filmworld. Many anecdotes have to do with food, because Sophia loves to cook. Everywhere she goes she brings her hotplate, so even in her hotelroom she can cook some pasta.

Sophia was once invited over to lunch with Audrey Hepburn and she had a small plate with a mini breadroll and a sliver of cheese. Sophia thought this was the entre, but it was the entire lunch. When they were finished, Audrey commented on having ‘too much to eat’, and Sophia went home to make herself another sandwich.

Once Sophia and Omar Sharif got into a discussion which mother made the best aubergine dish, Sophia’s mother, or Omar’s mother. The solution was to ask both mama’s to come and to cook their dishes, the end result was a great friendship between both women.

Humor, and a love for films, for Napoli, for food and especially her family are what define Sophia Loren. I love how she never forgot where she came from, but was proud of her heritage. She knows success comes from hard work, but it never made her hard or insensitive, friendship and loyalty are very important to her.

Ieri, oggi, domani. My life by Sophia Loren is a fascinating read and I really liked it.

Original Italian title: Ieri, oggi, domani

Published in 2014
An English translation will be available in December 2014