"A mother and daughter on vacation in Paris unpack a lifetime of secrets and hopes. Every daughter has her own distinctive voice, her inimitable style, and her secrets. Laurie is an artist, a collector of experiences. She travels the world with a worn beige duffel bag. Every mother has her own distinctive voice, her inimitable style, and her secrets. "Dr. Liz," Laurie's mother, is an elegant perfectionist who travels the world with a matched set of...

"We've been waiting for an hour." That's what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That's the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed." At one point or another, we've all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we'd like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen?...

"From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst comes a new women's fiction novel featuring three generations of Ferrari women who need to heal the broken pieces of their lives...and one trip of a lifetime through Italy. Workaholic, career-obsessed Francesca is fiercely independent and successful in all areas of life except one: family. She struggles to make time for her relationship with her teenage daughter, Allegra, and the two have become...

In this novel about a large Irish-Italian family in the late 1960s, young Maggie Scanlan begins to sense that, beneath the calm, everyday surface of her peaceful suburban life, everything is going mysteriously wrong especially during one summer that changes their lives.

"Set in the lush Big Band era of the 1940s and World War II, this spellbinding saga from beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani tells the story of two talented working class kids who marry and become a successful singing act, until time, temptation, and the responsibilities of home and family derail their dreams. Shortly before World War II, Chi Chi Donatelli and Saverio Armandonada meet one summer on the Jersey shore and fall...

In this warm collection of personal essays and recipes, Ann Hood nourishes both our bodies and our souls. From her Italian American childhood through singlehood, raising and feeding a growing family, divorce, and a new marriage to food writer Michael Ruhlman, Ann Hood has long appreciated the power of a good meal. With Hood's signature humor and tenderness, Kitchen Yarns spills tales of loss and starting from scratch, family love and feasts with friends,...

Presents a compelling account of the Eiffel Tower's creation and a superb portrait of Belle Epoque France. As Gustave Eiffel held court that summer atop his one-thousand-foot tower, a remarkable host of artists and personalities--Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Gauguin, Whistler, and Edison--traveled to Paris and the Exposition Universelle (1889 World's Fair) to mingle and make their mark.

Twelve autobiographical writings published by Italo Calvino in different books, one unpublished piece "American diary" and one work never published in Italy but printed in Lugano in a limited edition, Hermit in Paris--Pref.

"In this compulsively readable debut, set between London and Sicily over one blood-drenched week in the dead of summer, an identical twin reveals the crazy lies and twists she'll go through to not only steal her sister's perfect life, but to keep on living it. Alvie Knightly is a trainwreck: aimless, haphazard, and pretty much constantly drunk. Alvie's existence is made even more futile in contrast to that of her identical and perfect twin sister,...

"Beloved guide to Italian culture and history Tim Parks traces Garibaldi's famous journey across the Apennines in search of the country's past and present. In the summer of 1849 Giuseppe Garibaldi, the legendary hero of guerrilla wars and future architect of a united Italy, was finally forced to concede defeat to the French in his defense of a revolutionary Roman republic. But determined to turn defeat into moral victory, he set out from Rome with...