Portrait of Virginia Woolf by George Charles Beresford (1864-1938), Victorian studio photographer.

Virginia Woolf wrote her famous essay, A Room of One's Own in 1928 / 1929, reworking ideas from two lectures she had given to her students at Cambridge on the subject of women and literature. One of the most interesting aspects for me was the part about William Shakespeare's imaginary sister-poetess.

Woolf states that there is a very close link between any artistic creation and the artist's...

Photo by Sapphireblue.

On her blog A World of Words, Lucinda Byatt writes:

Thanks to Rita Charbonnier for drawing my attention to this great discussion among fans of Italian historical novels and four authors – at the moment of writing this, there have been a total of 428 comments!

[At the moment of publishing this post, there have a been a total of 607 comments!:]

It was a real eye-opener to discover the buzz of excitement created by Massimo Maugeri on his blog Letteratitudine when a few days...

This was quite an unusual book signing for my new historical novel Alexandre Dumas' Strange Day – published only in Italian, for the moment. I was wearing an 18th century costume! It was during the 2009 Turin International Book Fair and it was so funny to stop passers-by, talking to them in an old-fashioned Italian!… Oh, don't be afraid: there's no Italian dialogue in this video. Just funny pics and great music.

Check out Rita Charbonnier's YouTube Channel!

Unfinished portrait of Mozart.

If you are a lover of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music then you will probably be familiar with the Mozart Forum, a wonderful site dealing with the life and works of the great master. You can exchange information and make contact with experts in the field and ask them questions. You will find the link on my website and I recommend any Mozart fan to go and have a look.

Since 12th July there has been ongoing debate about which is the best Mozart biography available on th

Portrait of Mozart as a child.

When they were children, Wolfgang and Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart were a successful duo, a pair of enfants prodiges who shared exhilarating experiences, such as performing for the kings of Europe, and dramatic ones such as an illness that took both of them to the brink of death. In 1765, in The Hague, Nannerl became ill first wit

Arezzo, Piazza Grande. Photo by Monica Arellano-Ongpin.

Venue: Italy, Tuscany, Arezzo (a

I am very happy to announce that my second historical novel is out in Italy: La strana giornata di Alexandre Dumas (Alexander Dumas' Strange Day). Isn't the cover beautiful?

This was a literary party for my novel, Mozart's Sister, in Rome. The video is spoken entirely in Italian but there are some English captions and the music is nice. Enjoy!

Check out Rita Charbonnier's YouTube Channel!

Water colour painted by Louis de Carmontelle in 1763 in Paris.

There will never be a definitive answer to this question. Those of Mozart's biographers who mention his sister Nannerl, generally take it for granted that she was a good player, but would absolutely not have been able to compose. I wonder how one can claim to judge a talent that never had the possi

I am deeply grateful to Paul Barton for this wonderful performance. On YouTube, the dedication reads:

I made this recording to say a little thank you to Rita Charbonnier, author of  Mozart's Sister. I thoroughly enjoyed Rita's book and recommend it highly as a 'must read' to all lovers of good literature and music.

Check out Paul Barton's YouTube Channel!

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