Download or read book The Seamstress of Sardinia written by Bianca Pitzorno and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-12-06 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bestselling Italian writer makes her American debut with this delightful dramedy of manners, family, romance, and fashion that is set on the island of Sardinia at the end of the nineteenth century—a dazzling and original literary blend of Jane Austen and Adriana Trigiani. In 1900 Sardinia, a young woman’s remarkable talent with a needle earns her a position as a seamstress with a wealthy family. Inside this privileged world far different from her own humble beginnings, the skilled sewer quietly takes measurements, sketches designs, mends hems—and in the silence, hears whispered secrets and stories of all those around her. Through the watchful young seamstress’s eyes, this small Italian city and its residents emerge in all their vitality, vanity, and fragility—flawed yet congenial people who are not quite what they pretend to be. There is the Marchesa Esther, who rides horses and studies mechanics and ancient Greek; Miss Lily Rose, a spirited American journalist who commissions a special corset—with pockets to hide more than just her flaws; the Provera sisters with their expensive Parisian fashions that belie their financial hardships; and Assuntina, the wild child. There are men, young, old, and in between; love affairs and broken hearts; and even a murder (or was it suicide?). And at the center, watching and waiting is the seamstress herself, an intelligent, ambitious girl with a tender heart and her own impossible dream. An irresistible literary confection rich in atmosphere and period detail and packed with compelling characters. The Seamstress of Sardinia transports us to a long-ago world not so removed from our own—to a society rigidly divided by wealth and shaped by passion, hope, ambition, and love—the elemental forces that drive human lives.

Download or read book The Seamstress written by Frances de Pontes Peebles and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-06-01 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emília and Luzia dos Santos, orphaned when they are children, grow up under the protection of their aunt in the hillside village of Taquaritinga, Brazil. Raised as seamstresses, the sisters learn how to cut, how to mend and how to conceal. Emília treasures pretty, girlish things and longs to escape from the confines of the little town. Captivated by the romances she reads in magazines, she dreams of finding love in the bustle and glamour of the city. Luzia, scarred by a childhood accident that has left her with a deformed arm, knows that for her, real life can not be romantically embroidered, and so she finds solace in her sewing and in the secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life. But when Luzia is abducted by a gang of rebel bandits, the sisters' lives diverge in ways they never imagined. Whilst Luzia learns to survive in the unforgiving Brazilian outland, discovering love in the most unexpected of places, Emília meets the son of a wealthy doctor who seems to offer her everything she has always desired. But for the innocent dreamer, the excitement of her escape to the city is soon overshadowed by disillusion and loneliness. As she learns how to navigate the treacherous waters of Brazilian high society, the bandits' campaign against the land-owning 'Colonels' intensifies, and when a price is placed upon Luzia's head Emília realises she must risk everything in order to save her sister.

Download or read book The Church of Solitude written by Grazia Deledda and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Church of Solitude tells the story of Maria Concezione, a young Sardinian seamstress living with breast cancer at the cusp of the twentieth century. Overwhelmed by the shame of her diagnosis, she decides that no one can know what has happened to her, but the heavy burden of this secrecy changes her life in dramatic ways and almost causes the destruction of several people in her life. This surprising novel paints the portrait of a woman facing the unknown with courage, faith, and self-reliance, and is the last and most autobiographical work of Grazia Deledda, who died of breast cancer in 1936, shortly after its publication. An afterword by the translator offers additional information on the author and examines the social and historical environment of that time.

Download or read book Death in Sardinia written by Marco Vichi and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1960s Florence, a loan shark is murdered in this moody mystery featuring “a disillusioned anti-hero who is difficult to forget” (Andrea Camilleri). Florence, 1965. A man is found murdered, a pair of scissors stuck through his throat. Only one thing is known about him—he was a loan shark, who ruined and blackmailed the vulnerable men and women who would come to him for help. Inspector Bordelli prepares to launch a murder investigation. But the case will be a tough one for him, arousing mixed emotions: the desire for justice conflicting with a deep hostility for the victim. And he is missing his young police sidekick, Piras, who is convalescing at his parents’ home in Sardinia. But Piras hasn’t been recuperating for long before he too has a mysterious death to deal with . . .

Download or read book Under a Sardinian Sky written by Sara Alexander and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2017-04-20 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometimes a family’s deepest silences hide the most important secrets.

Download or read book Proxima B written by Pulvirenti Giorgio and published by Litres. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One day not too far from now there will be too many people on this planet. When that day comes, what will we do? Jerry, Michael, Emily, Amelia, Abigail and David receive their answer in the form of a letter. Proxima B is waiting for them and is going to expose their differences and their fears, which will let them make unexpected choices. Sometimes, a more obvious answer is not more predictable. Co-authored science fiction novel about a space mission that leads a group of colonists to land on Proxima b, which is an exoplanet in the habitable zone of the red dwarf called Proxima Centauri and whose distance from the sun is 4.24 light years. The year is 2099. Due to world's pollution, the excessive number of inhabitants, the subsequent lack of resources and other reasons, Earth is no longer fit to live in. The only hope is to try to reach what appears to be a ”second possibility”, Proxima b, indeed. This is why New Nasa Corporated is planning a mission called ”For everyone's sake!” that imposes the recruitment of several practitioners in their own field, including biologists, doctors, chemists, engineers and soldiers. These include Jerry, Michael, Emily, Amelia, Abigail and David, in addition to Matthew Ross, who is the captain of one of the three mother ships (the MATERs) that after the ”new colonizers” have been trained leave Earth and manage to reach the new planet through a wormhole. But during space travel something does not go as planned. Terrestrial beings find something different from what they expected on Proxima...

Download or read book Proust and Venice written by Peter Collier and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989-10-26 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study of Proust's famous novel A la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past) focuses on Venice, one of the hero's central obsessions, and shows how a whole network of allusions to art (from Titian to Turner, from Byzantine mosaic to Fortuny dresses) ties in with the hero's quest for self-knowledge and self-fulfilment.

Download or read book Watteau in Venice written by Philippe Sollers and published by Scribner. This book was released on 1994 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Venice, a French writer awaiting the disposal of a stolen painting for which he is the go-between, muses cynically on the art world while romancing a beautiful physics student from America. A meditation on what is art and on its worth by the author of Women.

Download or read book The Story of Garum written by Sally Grainger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Story of Garum recounts the convoluted journey of that notorious Roman fish sauce, known as garum, from a smelly Greek fish paste to an expensive luxury at the heart of Roman cuisine and back to obscurity as the Roman empire declines. This book is a unique attempt to meld the very disparate disciplines of ancient history, classical literature, archaeology, zooarchaeology, experimental archaeology, ethnographic studies and modern sciences to illuminate this little understood commodity. Currently Roman fish sauce has many identities depending on which discipline engages with it, in what era and at what level. These identities are often contradictory and confused and as yet no one has attempted a holistic approach where fish sauce has been given centre stage. Roman fish sauce, along with oil and wine, formed a triad of commodities which dominated Mediterranean trade and while oil and wine can be understood, fish sauce was until now a mystery. Students and specialists in the archaeology of ancient Mediterranean trade whether through amphora studies, shipwrecks or zooarchaeology will find this invaluable. Scholars of ancient history and classics wishing to understand the nuances of Roman dining literature and the wider food history discipline will also benefit from this volume.

Download or read book Accabadora written by Michela Murgia and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The award winning Accabadora is an exceptional English–language debut, written with intriguing subtlety reflecting a sensual picture of local Italian life and death in villages during the 1950's. A time where family ties and obligations still decide much of life's ebb and flow. A must read for those who love a touch of the unusual. Formerly beautiful and at one time betrothed to a fallen soldier, Bonaria Urrai has a long held covenant with the dead. Midwife to the dying, easing their suffering and sometimes ending it, she is revered and feared in equal measure as the village's Accabadora. When Bonaria adopts Maria, the unloved fourth child of a widow, she tries to shield the girl from the truth about her role as an angel of mercy. Moved by the pleas of a young man crippled in an accident, she breaks her golden rule of familial consent, and in the recriminations that follow, Maria rejects her and flees Sardinia for Turin. Adrift in the big city, Maria strives as ever to find love and acceptance, but her efforts are overshadowed by the creeping knowledge of a debt unpaid, of a duty and destiny that must one day be hers. Accabadora has been awarded seven major literary prizes, including Italy's prestigious Premio Campiello.

Download or read book The House in the Tree written by Bianca Pitzorno and published by Alma Books. This book was released on 2017-07-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All children dream of having a secret house where they can live on their own, far from any rules and regulations. But not all of them are as lucky as Aglaia, who lives at the top of a magical tree together with her friend Bianca and an incredible host of flying dogs, talking cats, carnivorous flowers and children who speak in verse. Inventively illustrated by Quentin Blake, Aglaia's adventures – and her battles with the gruff Signor Brullo and the woodmen who want to cut down the tree – are sure to enchant and inspire the imagination of every child.

Download or read book Graziella written by Alphonse de Lamartine and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Novel of Ferrara written by Giorgio Bassani and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 597 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Giorgio Bassani’s six classic books, collected for the first time in English as the epic masterwork they were intended to be. Among the masters of twentieth-century literature, Giorgio Bassani and his northern Italian hometown of Ferrara “are as inseparable as James Joyce and Dublin or Italo Svevo and Trieste” (from the Introduction). The Novel of Ferrara brings together Bassani’s six classics, fully revised by the author at the end of his life. Set before, during, and after the Second World War, these interlocking stories present nuanced and unforgettable characters: the respected doctor whose homosexuality is exposed by an exploitative youth; the survivor of the Nazi death camps; the Jewish landowner, returned from exile, to find himself utterly displaced; the schoolteacher whose Communist idealism challenges a postwar generation. Suffused with new life by acclaimed translator and poet Jamie McKendrick, The Novel of Ferrara memorializes a city deeply informed by the Jewish community to which the narrator belongs. This seminal work seals Bassani’s indomitable reputation.

Download or read book Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady written by Florence King and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 1990-09-15 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady is Florence King's classic memoir of her upbringing in an eccentric Southern family, told with all the uproarious wit and gusto that has made her one of the most admired writers in the country. Florence may have been a disappointment to her Granny, whose dream of rearing a Perfect Southern Lady would never be quite fulfilled. But after all, as Florence reminds us, "no matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street."

Download or read book My Father s Daughter written by Gilda Morina Syverson and published by Parnassus Press. This book was released on 2014-11-15 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Novello Literary Award finalist, this captivating memoir exudes passion, eloquence, heartfelt language and ancestral roots. A trilogy tale, with ancient sites of Rome, contrasting the landscape of a picturesque countryside, seaside villages of Sicily, and olive trees in the valley of Mount Etna. All in the language of love and food, Gilda Morina Syverson is out to uncover her past.

Download or read book The Unhoneymooners written by Christina Lauren and published by Gallery Books. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews * Publishers Weekly * Library Journal Named a “Must-Read” by TODAY, Us Weekly, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Southern Living, Book Riot, Woman’s Day, The Toronto Star, and more! For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—maybe even love—in this romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Roomies. Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion...she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas. Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo. Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is...Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be. With Christina Lauren’s “uniquely hilarious and touching voice” (Entertainment Weekly), The Unhoneymooners is a romance for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love.

Download or read book I Was Shipwrecked on the Andrea Doria the Titanic of the 1950s written by Pierette Domenica Simpson and published by Brio Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book Description Who will survive the most catastrophic collision ever between two ocean liners? On July 25, 1956, after nine days of blissful travel, passengers on the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria are hurled into a struggle for survival. As the murky fog lifts on the black Atlantic, the sea becomes a mirror in which passengers stare at death in the face. Their destinies are literally suspended on a rope and in the hands of their fellow passengers and crew. Don t jump! we heard the crewman beg from above. Wait your turn for the rope! Everybody, wait your turn! Written by a survivor of the catastrophic Andrea Doria-Stockholm collision, the novel is an up close and personal anatomy of a shipwreck on the Atlantic Ocean on July 25, 1956. Life on board the safest and most beautiful passenger liner after World War II opens new portholes to the world for passengers of every age and background. We meet nine-year-old Piera (the author), shy and overly protected, immigrating to the New World with her grandparents where she will finally meet her mother. The reader then travels First Class, where Daniel, a sixteen-year-old would-be naval architect is doing an internship with the help of his father. There is also a mysterious and fearful elderly passenger on board. Through him, all the characters intersect at the finale, in a most miraculous way. The voyage itself sets the foundation for surviving insurmountable odds during the collision and rescue operations. Premonitions, excerpts from Moby Dick, discussions on the Titanic, and a terrible sea storm, prepare the reader for the inevitable. Ultimately, the story is that of the greatest sea rescue in history . This story could only be told through the sensibilities of a survivor. It s so compelling that it could be made into a movie. Yet, Ms. Simpson took measures to preserve scientific, engineering, and historical accuracy. William H. Garzke, Jr. Chairman of the Marine Forensics Committee, The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Simpson s telling is a well-paced account of the ship s decline and the families the catastrophe affected. Her female perspective helps mold a heartily compelling tale...A pleasant voyage for anyone seeking a personal history of the ocean liner. Kirkus Reviews Ms. Simpson became the first shipwreck survivor to give a complete human and scientific account of her own shipwreck with her book, Alive the Andrea Doria! The Greatest Sea Rescued in History. The author is a member of the national marine forensics committee of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. The chairman of marine forensics endorsed her first publication for shipwreck research. Ms. Simpson frequently speaks about shipwreck survival to local and international groups and the media. For more information on Pierette Simpson and Alive on the Andrea Doria! The Greatest Sea Rescue in History: www.pierettesimpson.com. For watching and reading the author s media interviews: http: //www.pierettesimpson.com/press/ and http: //www.pierettesimpson.com/press/costa-concordia/