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  • Published: 2 June 2000
  • ISBN: 9780375705229
  • Imprint: Knopf US
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $26.99

Italian Fever



Part romance, part gothic suspense story, this is the compelling tale of an American woman's awakening as she tumbles headlong into a mystery, art, and eros—from the bestselling, award-winning author of Property.  • "Spellbinding ... A virtuoso ... Martin's competence has kindled into brilliance." —The New York Times Book Review

Lucy leads a quiet, solitary life working for a best-selling (but remarkably untalented) writer. When he dies at his villa in Tuscany, Lucy flies to Tuscany to settle his affairs. What begins as a grim chore soon threatens Stark's Emersonian self-reliance--and her very sense of what is real. The villa harbors secrets: a missing manuscript, neighbors whose Byzantine arrogance veils their dark past, a phantom whose nocturnal visits tear a gaping hole in Lucy's well-honed skepticism. And to complicate matters: Massimo, a married man whose tender attentions render Lucy breathless.

Smart, sophisticated, achingly beautiful, Italian Fever is one of the most original and compelling novels of the year.

  • Published: 2 June 2000
  • ISBN: 9780375705229
  • Imprint: Knopf US
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $26.99

About the author

Valerie Martin

Valerie Martin is the author of Set in Motion, A Recent Martyr, Alexandra, The Consolation of Nature and Other Stories and Mary Reilly, which has recently been made into a film. Born in Missouri and raised in New Orleans, she has taught at various universities including Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts. She lives in Massachusetts and Rome.