Italian Fever A Novel

"Acutely observed...charmingly old-fashioned."--Los Angeles Times InItalian Fever, Valerie Martin redefines the Gothic novel in a compelling tale of one woman's headlong tumble into a mystery, art, and eros. Part romance, part gothic suspense story and wholly entertaining,Italian Feveris the story of the awakening of Lucy Stark, an American pragmatist. Lucy leads a quiet, solitary life working for a best-selling (but remarkably untalented) writer. When he dies at his villa in Tuscany, Lucy flies to Tuscany to settle his affairs. What begins as a grim chore soon threatens Stark's Emersonian self-reliance--and her very sense of what is real. The villa harbors secrets: a missing manuscript, neighbors whose Byzantine arrogance veils their dark past, a phantom whose nocturnal visits tear a gaping hole in Lucy's well-honed skepticism. And to complicate matters: Massimo, a married man whose tender attentions render Lucy breathless. Smart, sophisticated, achingly beautiful,Italian Feveris one of the most original and compelling novels of the year.

Valerie Martin is the author of six novels, including <b>The Great Divorce</b> and <b>Mary Reilly</b>.  She lives in upstate New York.