What do you think?
Rate this book
The Italian Quartet
In The Italian Quartet, Sara Marcello, a writer with roots in Italy, is invited to the island villa of Ugo and Olivia Bellini, two wealthy and worldly antiquarians. In this place of myth, belonging as much to Homer and Prospero as to the present, Sara discovers that she is at the center of Olivia's obsessive desire to possess the secret of creative genius. And, although she doesn't know it, Sara is also replaying the sixty-year-old tragedy of her grandmother, Gelsomina. Gelsomina was sent to America to break up an affair of hers that her family did not want to happen, and like Gelsomina, Sara must enter an unworkable love affair whose resolution can only be clear in hindsight. Filled with art, music, and scenes of travel, The Italian Quartet is a sparkling novel, true poetry for the soul.
197 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2001
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 10, 2016
I thought this book would be more about music in Venice, but it was actually (distantly musically themed) a swirling look at life and love and being truthful. Societal expectations, personal desire, heartbreak, all wrapped up in Italian culture and language: food and art and family. A bit melancholy, but I liked the Italia-ness of it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review