ABOUT THE BOOK -- IN LOVE IN ITALY Italy. Three little syllabus. I-TA-LY. But this one word has meant so much to so many people for thousands of years. This little peninsula, sometimes blazing hot and sometimes freezing cold has captured the heart of so many people, perhaps even your own. If you have ever visited Italy you know it is a country that pulls at your heart and your imagination. This collection of short stories were ones I wrote the first year I was in Italy. I spent a year traveling throughout the country -- from the northern lakes to Tuscany, Veneto, Umbria to Rome and Sicily. The five stories take place in the towns and were inspired by the places I visited. I hope you will be inspired too, to go to Italy, to return to Italy or simply to remember to love life. The first story 'On Venice's Shores' is the mythical story of a woman, part God and part human, who has lived for thousands of years. Her love of life is endless. She is a part of the life force in us all, one that reinvents itself again and again in order to survive. The second story 'The Naked Madonna' is about a vision seen by several children on the island of Guidecca. 'Palazzo on the Canal' offers a glimpse of life in a Venetian Palazzo during the last days of World War II. In "The English Pilot', a man is rescued by a family during the Second World War. And the last story, 'A Widow's Story' takes place in the beginning of the First World War. No matter what we have lived through, we have known the most precious gift of all -- Life. This book celebrates life and love.

In the age of innocence a young American girl, Rachel Lester, travels to Europe to find her destiny and love. She meets three men who will decide her life. She meets Forrest Mann, a young American man her own age, who shares with her the promise of a conventional American life. In England she meets Lord Hatfield, a man fifteen years older, who can give her a title and money. And in France she meets Count Kovensky, a charming man who offers her a life among artists, writers and philosophers and a world revolving around his houses in Paris, Monte Carlo and Florence. What choice will she make and what price will she pay for her innocence lost.

In the age of innocence a young American girl, Rachel Lester, travels to Europe to find her destiny and love. She meets three men who will decide her life. She meets Forrest Mann, a young American man her own age, who shares with her the promise of a conventional American life. In England she meets Lord Hatfield, a man fifteen years older, who can give her a title and money. And in France she meets Count Kovensky, a charming man who offers her a life among artists, writers and philosophers and a world revolving around his houses in Paris, Monte Carlo and Florence. What choice will she make and what price will she pay for her innocence lost.

ABOUT THE BOOK -- IN LOVE IN ITALY Italy. Three little syllabus. I-TA-LY. But this one word has meant so much to so many people for thousands of years. This little peninsula, sometimes blazing hot and sometimes freezing cold has captured the heart of so many people, perhaps even your own. If you have ever visited Italy you know it is a country that pulls at your heart and your imagination. This collection of short stories were ones I wrote the first year I was in Italy. I spent a year traveling throughout the country -- from the northern lakes to Tuscany, Veneto, Umbria to Rome and Sicily. The five stories take place in the towns and were inspired by the places I visited. I hope you will be inspired too, to go to Italy, to return to Italy or simply to remember to love life. The first story 'On Venice's Shores' is the mythical story of a woman, part God and part human, who has lived for thousands of years. Her love of life is endless. She is a part of the life force in us all, one that reinvents itself again and again in order to survive. The second story 'The Naked Madonna' is about a vision seen by several children on the island of Guidecca. 'Palazzo on the Canal' offers a glimpse of life in a Venetian Palazzo during the last days of World War II. In "The English Pilot', a man is rescued by a family during the Second World War. And the last story, 'A Widow's Story' takes place in the beginning of the First World War. No matter what we have lived through, we have known the most precious gift of all -- Life. This book celebrates life and love.