'Taut, honed and surprising' Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun Thirtysomething New Yorker Lucy Stark leads a quiet, solitary life working for a bestselling - but remarkably untalented - writer. When he dies at a villa in Tuscany, Lucy flies to Italy to settle his affairs. What begins as a grim chore soon threatens her self-reliance and her very sense of reality. In Italian Fever, Valerie Martin evokes a modern woman's headlong tumble into a world where E.M.Forster's angels feared to tread. Smart and ...
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'Taut, honed and surprising' Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun Thirtysomething New Yorker Lucy Stark leads a quiet, solitary life working for a bestselling - but remarkably untalented - writer. When he dies at a villa in Tuscany, Lucy flies to Italy to settle his affairs. What begins as a grim chore soon threatens her self-reliance and her very sense of reality. In Italian Fever, Valerie Martin evokes a modern woman's headlong tumble into a world where E.M.Forster's angels feared to tread. Smart and sophisticated, this novel takes us on a journey from which we return, like Lucy, utterly changed.
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Publisher:
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Published:
2005
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17897326454
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Seller's Description:
Good. All orders are dispatched within 1 working day from our UK warehouse. Established in 2004, we are dedicated to recycling unwanted books on behalf of a number of UK charities who benefit from added revenue through the sale of their books plus huge savings in waste disposal. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied.
Publisher:
Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Published:
05/19/2005
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17763718380
Shipping Options:
Standard Shipping: $4.64
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there's something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within 24 hours and our lightning fast-delivery within 48 hours coupled with our prompt customer service ensures a smooth journey from ordering to delivery. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.
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The premise of this book -- a woman travels to Italy to tend to the affairs of her deceased employer, a popular novelist of dubious ability who died under mysterious circumstances -- holds terrific potential for a compelling read, but ultimately I found Italian Fever a bit flat. Martin is certainly a skilled writer, and her descriptions of the Italian countryside, architecture, and art are vivid and enjoyable, but for me, the characters never really came alive. The plot also seemed two-dimensional -- mysteries were hinted at but their leads were never fully explored, passions were described but never fully savored. I wanted to be transported by this book to a mysterious villa in romantic Italy, but I never forgot that I was just reading about it. I think Valerie Martin may be capable of crafting a truly compelling novel, but she needs to dig deeper below the surface than she did here.
