The Vernazza Effect: Novato Resident Pens New Novel

Novato resident Roberta Carr spent just three days in a small village in northern Italy.

But the experience was so moving that it inspired her to write a novel about it, a book that weaves a tale of friendship, discovery, overcoming domestic violence and following your heart.

Titled “The Vernazza Effect,” the novel, published last week, centers around a woman, a nurse named Ella, who finds her life spiraling out of control. She and a friend travel to a sleepy village in the Cinque Terre region of Italy, where Ella decides to stay longer.

The time she spends there helps her discover who she is and what she wants, but when she returns to the United States, Ella is forced to confront her fears as she works to create her dream life.

“It’s definitely a message book,” says Carr, who spent 18 years working at Kaiser and has lived in Novato since 2006. “It’s about trusting your intuition and following your dreams, no matter how long they take to realize.”

In 2005, Carr and her husband, Andrew, co-wrote “The 8th Field Hospital” about his experience serving as a military doctor during the Vietnam War.

“The Vernazza Effect” is a first work of fiction for Carr, although she says it took her a while to flesh out her characters and make the story flow.

“I’ve started a dozen novels over the years, but couldn’t quite figure them out,” she says. Then she picked up a book by author Jack M. Bickham and spent two months writing nothing but scenes and sequences.

“When I was writing, I kept asking myself, ‘How do I feel about it? What happens next?'" recalled Carr.

She later attended a writing workshop at Hay House in Denver, Colorado, which she says helped her think about the novel in a new way. 

Carr says she was so inspired by Vernazza—the views, residents’ generosity, the serenity— that she decided to dedicate a novel to the small town.

“We all get caught up in what society says we should do, even when we have a hunch it’s not what’s best for us.”