Italian Fever: A Novel [Paperback]

'Haunting and atmospheric, this is read with understated aplomb by Francine Brody' (BOOKS QUARTERLY )

'Smart and sophisticated, this novel takes us on a journey from which we return, like Lucy, utterly changed' (OPTIONS XII ) --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

'Smart and sophisticated, this novel takes us on a journey from which we return, like Lucy, utterly changed' --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

'acute and playful reading.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Anyone who has ever had a foreign love affair will appreciate the subtlety with which Martin weaves her spell.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'It makes for an interesting and thoughtful read.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A sensual, intelligent, engaging book - a modern EM Forster.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'lighthearted...inquisitive and...joyfully irreverent.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Martin's writing works best in the detail...[She] captures the tragic humour of DV's funeral and acutely observes the petty manipulations of Massimo. She also creates a vivid sense of dislocation as Lucy is both physically frail and unable to understand the language and cultural norms of the world in which she finds herself.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Valerie Martin's ITALIAN FEVER is an absolute joy to read...[it] is part love story, part ghost story, and a wholly enjoyable and intelligent summer read...This is a wise, intelligent novel about how bad writers can suffer just as much for their art as good ones, and how true friendship is better than a thousand kisses. It should be enjoyed both in its own rights, and as a worthy addition to the growing line of Tuscan fictions.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Part love story, part murder mystery, part psychological study...Valerie Martin's familiarity with Italy is put to good use in her renditions of the Tuscan countryside and of Rome, but it is in her vivid descriptions of Gianlorenzo Bernini's sculpture, Apollo and Daphne, and Piero della Francesca's fresco of the Resurrection that her writing truly soars. Worth reading for those alone.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Acutely observed...charmingly old-fashioned."--Los Angeles Times

In Italian 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 Fever is 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 Fever is one of the most original and compelling novels of the year.

Valerie Martin is the author of two collections of short fiction and six novels, including Italian Fever, The Great Divorce and Mary Reilly [the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story, from the viewpoint of a housemaid, which was filmed with Julia Roberts and John Malkovich. Her most recent book is a non-fiction work about St Francis of Assisi: Salvation: Scenes from the Life of St Francis. She lives in upstate New York. Francine Brody won the Flora Robson Prize at RADA. She has performed all over the UK in plays such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Importance of Being Earnerst and The Glass Menagerie. Film and television work includes I Dreamed of Africa, Maigret and The Hotel Majestic and Lost And Found. She has recorded a number of audio books including the unabridged version of Bridget Jones's Diary. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.