We have romantic notions about the balls, the masques, the outings, the houses and the art of this period. We don't often consider how little personal freedom the the young nobles attending those balls in the ornate palaces had. Young people could not enjoy their youth. They had to navigate doubl...
From the acclaimed author of A Venetian Affair comes the vivid and dramatic story of the fall of Venice and the rise of a new age during the tumultuous Napoleonic period, as seen through the eyes of his great-great-great-great-grandmother. In 1787, Lucia, the beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter ...
Her chambermaid, Maria, brought her a silver tray with a cup of hot chocolate and a note from Alvise. He was in the habit of leaving very early in the morning for a busy day of work, and though he usually took care to leave an affectionate line or two for his wife, she never quite knew when he mi...
Anna and her five children, accompanied by Signor Zandiri and Toinon, left the familiar city of Padua in two hired carriages—one for luggage, one for passengers—and took the road to Vicenza, their first stop on the long, uncomfortable journey across Europe. It would take them three to four days j...