Overview
Beautiful Chiara is the last of the Ridolfi, a Florentine family of long lineage and eccentric habits. She is smitten with Salvatore, a brilliant but penniless doctor, a rational man who wants nothing to do with romance. This is the story of how these two—with the best intentions, the kindest of instincts, and the most meddlesome of friends—make each other wonderfully miserable inside.
Synopsis
Beautiful Chiara is the last of the Ridolfi, a Florentine family of long lineage and eccentric habits. She is smitten with Salvatore, a brilliant but penniless doctor, a rational man who wants nothing to do with romance. This is the story of how these two--with the best intentions, the kindest of instincts, and the most meddlesome of friends--make each other wonderfully miserable inside.
Emily Leider
Mrs. Fitzgerald casts a wry, forgiving eye on her characters and charms us even when her plot gets snagged in its complications. We are left with a new awareness of the folly - not of being comforted - but of believing we can control or even comprehend our common, mysterious predicament. -- The New York Times
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Clever and dangerously beguiling." The Los Angeles Times"As intoxicating as a shot of aged brandy . . . a true sensualist's feeling for Italy." The Washington Post
"The fullest and richest of her novels." Time Magazine