That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story

That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

â‚¬Å“At villa Donnafugata, long ago is never very far away,â‚¬Â writes bestselling author Marlena de Blasi of the magnificent if somewhat ruined castle in the mountains of Sicily that she finds, accidentally, one summer while traveling with her husband, Fernando. There de Blasi is befriended by Tosca, the patroness of the villa, an elegant and beautiful woman-of-a-certain-age who recounts her lifelong love story with the last prince of Sicily descended from the French nobles of Anjou.

Sicily is a land of contrasts: grandeur and poverty, beauty and sufferance, illusion and candor. In a luminous and tantalizing voice, That Summer in Sicily re-creates Toscaâ‚¬s life, from her impoverished childhood to her fairy-tale adoption and initiation into the glittering life of the princeâ‚¬s palace, to the dawning and recognition of mutual love. But when Prince Leo attempts to better the lives of his peasants, his defiance of the local Mafiaâ‚¬s grim will to maintain the historical imbalance between the haves and the have-nots costs him dearly.

The present-day narrative finds Tosca sharing her considerable inherited wealth with a harmonious society composed of many of the womenâ‚¬â€œnow widowedâ‚¬â€œwho once worked the princeâ‚¬s land alongside their husbands. How the Sicilian widows go about their tasks, care for one another, and celebrate the rituals of a humble, well-lived life is the heart of this book.

Showcasing the same writerly gifts that made bestsellers of A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany, That Summer in Sicily, and de Blasiâ‚¬ s marvelous storytelling, remind us that in order to live a rich life, one must embrace both lifeâ‚¬s sorrow and its beauty. Here is an epic drama that takes readers from Sicilyâ‚¬s remote mountains to chaotic post-war Palermo, from the intricacies of forbidden love to the havoc wreaked by Sicilyâ‚¬s eternally bewildering culture.
Country USA
Brand Ballantine Books
Manufacturer Ballantine Books
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780345497666
Color Multicolor
ReleaseDate 2009-05-19
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780345497666

Country	USA
Brand	Ballantine Books
Manufacturer	Ballantine Books
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780345497666
Color	Multicolor
ReleaseDate	2009-05-19
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780345497666

That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story

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