The Red Hill by David Penny

The Red Hill by David Penny

Long ago is never far away at villa Donnafugata, says popular novelist Marlena de Blasi of the gorgeous though somewhat damaged castle in the mountains of Sicily that she discovers by mistake one summer while traveling with her husband, FernandoThere de Blasi is befriended by Tosca, the patroness of the villa, an exquisite and beautiful woman-of-a-certain-age who narrates her lifetime love saga.

That Summer in Sicily re-creates Tosca's life, from her destitute infancy to her fairy-tale adoption and indoctrination into the dazzling life of the prince's palace, to the morning and recognition of mutual loveIn a luminous and tempting voice, That Summer in Sicily re-creates Tosca's life, from her impoverished upbringing to her fairy-tale adoption and initiation into the glittering life of the prince's palace, to the dawning and

The present-day story sees Tosca sharing her enormous inherited riches with a happy community made up of many of the widowed women who earlier worked alongside their husbands on the prince's estate. How the Sicilian widows go about their chores, care for one another, and celebrate the rituals of a humble, well-lived existence is at the heart of this book.

That Summer in Sicily, with de Blasi's great storytelling, demonstrates the same writerly abilities that created bestsellers of A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany, reminding us that in order to live a rich life, one must embrace both life's suffering and its beauty.