The back cover of my book A Sunny Place for Shady People refers to Malta as “an island so small that few knew it was an independent country and even fewer could find it on the map”.
It isn’t a sleight at Malta’s size, or an accusation of insignificance.
It’s a comment on how little foreigners know about a country whose strategic location at the centre of the Mediterranean placed it in the middle of historic events.
During the years I spent on the island, I’d often hear complaints about Malta being overlooked or left off maps in other parts of Europe.
At first I thought this was overblown. I’m from a very small town routinely overlooked on maps that manage to label the tiny city of Ogdensburg, New York right across the river. But Malta is a European Union Member State with a vote that holds equal weight to France and Germany.
I started feeling insulted too when I bumped up against Malta-less maps in museums in other parts of Europe.
You’d think government officials would be better informed but you would be wrong.
My wife and I were flying through Frankfurt airport early in our island years when she was stopped by German customs and accused of overstaying in the Schengen Zone. Had she been a Japanese tourist who spent more than the permitted visa-free three months, that would be true.
“It’s okay,” I said. “She’s a resident of Malta.”
“Yes, but she’s overstayed in the EU,” the customs official replied.
“Malta’s part of the EU.”
The German customs official leaned over to his colleague in the next booth and exchanged a few words, and then he started typing. I was standing slightly behind him and I could see he was Googling whether Malta was a Member State.
When Tomoko handed him her resident’s permit — at that time a colourful printout on unlaminated paper — he said, “Is this thing real?”
It went on like that for years. But at some point, the feeling of being insulted when I noticed Malta had been left off yet another map was replaced by discomfort when an accountant in another country told me, “I had long term client who moved to Malta to dodge taxes. I refused to do any more business with him.”
I didn’t like the way his eyes narrowed when I said I’d just gone there to write a book. And I hated feeling like I was guilty by association with a place whose reputation was quickly deteriorating.
I said on the back cover blurb of my book that the world’s attention didn’t turn to the tiny Member State on Europe’s southernmost fringes until the brutal car bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Malta didn’t stay in the global spotlight for very long despite the fact that a public inquiry held the State responsible for her murder, citing a culture of impunity that spread like tentacles from the Office of the Prime Minister.
I hope my book will play some small role in changing this.
Malta is far more interesting — and far stranger — than the casual weekend tourist might realize.
A Sunny Place for Shady People was published in April — more than two months ago — but it isn’t available in the country I wrote about despite selling well on Amazon. Industry contacts tell me it isn’t being offered to local outlets, let alone sold there, and this may be deliberate. Ordering from abroad remains the only way for Maltese readers to get their hands on it.
Can’t stand the message? Discredit, block or shadow ban the messenger. That’s how shady people operate.
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What a strange adventure through all those years you stay there.
Dear Mr. Murdoch,
A friend of mine just sent me an email referring to the NYT article Opinion – Guest Essays written by Paul Theroux who quoted your very negative opinion about Malta. Ironically, I left NYC (a rent stabilized apartment) just three weeks ago to come to Malta (Gozo) very possibly to live here indefinitely. I left NYC after 51 years with a few years in between living in Chicago, East Aurora, Nanoose Bay (I’m from BC Canada), months over the years in Tanzania, and many months even years (during pandemic) in Malta and Gozo. I left NYC in part due to the bullying and abuse the building staff and management put me through. Including threats, glue in my locks, and so much more. A three year lawsuit which I’d likely lose just wasn’t worth the risk and expense.
I agreed with most of Mr. Theroux’s opinion about expats but not all. And, having been in Malta frequently often stop and ask the question ‘how can I accept this behaviour’ when things are done poorly.
Yet, a cousin said ‘you’ll get used to it’. Which I disagreed with. I’m talking about the Wild West behaviour… as I’ll never get used to it. Locals can’t do much about it but complain or they feel they could end up like Daphne Caruana Galitzia journalist.
However, I’ve had as noted above, and lived with numerous events and incidents in NY that are on par with what goes on in Malta. My Uncle used to say ‘Malta is an archaeologists’ dream! As it has every possible type of person, scenario one could think of… all in these tiny islands.
My reason for writing to you is if the life here is a terrible as Mr. Theroux noted ‘you wrote in your book’ why are there so many reasons why someone would live here? I can tell you why I’m here, and my observations about the quality of life here which differs from Mr. Theroux’s statement.
I am a Maltese citizen through my father. I inherited my father’s privileged status as prior to the British leaving Malta, the family was well known as owned property, flour mills, factories, ships (three taken by the Russians never returned), etc., and namely the Nationalist Bank. They also comprise a good part of the nobility. The family were extremely benevolent which is well recorded. And well liked until the new ‘Labour party’ leader Mintoff was elected as one ‘against’ the elite who then proceeded to nationalise the bank, factories, and so on. In fact the lawsuit by my family has only last year been settled for well over €100M + but now they are struggling to be paid… but at least even the Labour government does understand justice – it just takes them a good 50+ years…
The food is ‘not revolting’. Where did you eat? I’m not suggesting restaurants as I would agree not like Italy, but revolting? No. This is a very damaging accusation Mr. Theroux made quoting your book. And, the statement Mr. Theroux made is extremely hurtful to me. As soon as I arrive in Gozo, the produce (I buy mostly organic from farmers) is full of flavour. Ratatouille is delicious and a never can go wrong recipe. The bread here has always been the best I’ve ever had anywhere and I’m a world traveler. And it costs under €1 for a large peasant loaf (I was in NYC a month ago, the same type, size was around $14). I can go on and on.
But, here’s the single most important fact about what Malta offers which the USA does not and this is they look after their people. Especially medically. They’ll fly a child to USA, UK or wherever for medical reasons. During and post pandemic the government gave a significant stipend every month to all workers who pay into the government system taxes etc., and gave all kinds of benefits to those who needed. They gave everyone coupons at restaurants, clothing and various stores. Local businesses delivered for free, a generous food bank helped hundreds of families.
You never see a Maltese citizen ruined due to a medical reason, or any other dramatic circumstance.
And, I just met with a friend and mentioned the NYT article. He writes articles, studied journalism and works for Heritage Malta. He recalled when your book came out because it was promoted at a local bookshop, and he noted, printed in Malta. It is still available to purchase in Malta.
For me, reading Mr. Theroux’s account of your book was and is distressing especially as he doesn’t have the facts right. And to only state such negativity… has he ever been swimming here? Off a boat? It’s January 9, 2025 and so beautifully sunny a great day for an alfresco lunch.
I’m very surprised the NYT printed this Guest Essay. I hope Mr. Theroux will retract his generalised negative comments about Malta and not target Malta as such a terrible sounding place for expats based on his account of your book.
Regards,
Benita Serena Cassar Torreggiani
Cc: NYT, Malta Tourism Board
Dear Ms. Cassar Torreggiani,
Thank you for your comment, and for sharing your story. You brought back memories of my island years, which seem so long ago. I agree with your uncle about Malta being an archaeologist’s dream. That deep history is what I liked most about living there.
I can’t comment on life in the US or NYC — I visited NYC three times on work trips more than 20 years ago, but have never lived there. Nor can I comment on what Malta was like at an earlier time. I wrote about what I saw and experienced, living in three different villages, from the tail end of the Gonzi years to the rise of Joseph Muscat and the brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
I saw (and greatly appreciated) Mr. Theroux’s generous praise of my book in the NYT. The words you found offensive were not direct quotes. If you’d like to know what I said, I humbly suggest that you read my book. It’s published by Trinity University Press in the United States (with worldwide distribution), and in paperback by Midsea Books in Malta. Midsea kindly stepped in when Trinity had difficulty getting the book into shops on the islands.
I can’t speak for Malta’s current popularity with expats. Most of the ones I knew back then left long ago. But the annual Expat Insider survey published by InterNations (a global expat network with some 4.2 million members worldwide) would agree with much of what Mr. Theroux said. Malta plunged from fourth in 2015 to fiftieth out of fifty-nine countries in 2021. It was a very different and much more enjoyable place for me as an outsider to live in 2011 than it was when I left in 2017.
I hope you find what you’re looking for in Gozo. It was still beautiful when I was last there, and resembled the rural parts of Malta I had liked most. Unfortunately, it seems that the developers who ravaged Malta with their hideous hodgepodge building projects are steadily encroaching on Gozo too, erasing some of the things that you and I both loved about the place.
The years I saw in Malta were increasingly dark ones for the country. May it return one day to the magical place so many older people told me about.
Best wishes,
Ryan
Thank you for your reply.