Book Description
Italian Fever - A secluded Tuscan villa, a
mysterious death, a missing manuscript, a whiff of a ghost,
and a smart young American woman tumbling helplessly into an
unexpected affair--these are the ingredients of this
beguiling and acutely observed new novel by the author of Mary
Reilly.
Lucy Stark--clever, pragmatic, capable--is the assistant
to a best-selling but remarkably untalented writer named DV,
who has spent the last several months in Tuscany searching
for inspiration. One morning in Brooklyn, as Lucy sits at her
desk reluctantly reading the first half of DV's latest novel,
she receives a startling phone call: DV is dead, and the
circumstances are suspicious. Soon Lucy finds herself in
Italy, where her search for the rest of DV's manuscript leads
her into the thick of various mysteries. Was DV murdered, or
just the victim of his own stupidity? Was the ghost story he
was writing pure fantasy, or did it hint at a darker reality?
Is the devastating, married Massimo, who cares for Lucy in
ways no one has before, as dangerously in love with her as
she is with him?
Part mystery, part romance, part meditation on the
maddening but redemptive power of art, Italian Fever
is a supremely satisfying novel: a funny, insightful portrait
of the American abroad, and an irresistible exploration of
our perpetual love affair with Italy.
