Some published memoirs are more than words on paper: they are
encounters with their authors. Meet Axel Munthe, born in Sweden in
1857; subsequently a medical doctor with fashionable practices in
Paris and Rome, also a volunteer during the cholera epidemic in
Naples and in the aftermath of the earthquake that decimated
Messina in 1908. A humorous and non-judgemental observer of men,
Munthe was more than a medico; he brought an element of intuitive
magic (later called "psychotherapy") to his practice. This
recounting of his past as a peripatetic practitioner introduces us
to a man driven by curiosity and wanderlust, touched by genius;
many of the anecdotes could stand alone as short stories of depth
and eye-blurring emotion. Under it all, leit-motif and anchor in a
bohemian loner's life, Munthe's ongoing restoration of the ruined
villa of Tiberius on Capri: the lighthouse of his life. This is an
unlikely masterpiece: a perfectly wonderful book. (Kirkus UK)
This 'dream-laden and spooked' (Marina Warner, London Review of
Books) story is to many one of the best-loved books of the
twentieth century. Munthe spent many years working as a doctor in
Southern Italy, labouring unstintingly during typhus, cholera and
earthquake disasters. It was during this period that he came across
the ruined Tiberian villa of San Michele, perched high above the
glittering Bay of Naples on Capri. With the help of Mastro Nicola
and his three sons, and with only a charcoal sketch roughly drawn
on a garden wall to guide them, Munthe devoted himself to
rebuilding the house and chapel. Over five long summers they toiled
under a sapphire-blue sky, their mad-cap project leading them to
buried skeletons and ancient coins, and to hilarious encounters
with a rich cast of vividly-drawn villagers. The Story of San
Michele reverberates with the mesmerising hum of a long, hot
Italian summer. Peopled with unforgettable characters, it is as
brilliantly enjoyable and readable today as it was upon first
publication. The book quickly became an international bestseller
and has now been translated into more than 30 languages; it is
today an established classic, and sales number i
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