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The marriage portrait / by O'Farrell, Maggie,1972-author.;
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: a duke is quick to request her hand in marriage. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. In the court's eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess' future hangs entirely in the balance.
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio, 1533-1597; Medici, Lucrezia de', 1545-1561; Florence (Italy); Renaissance;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Lampedusa : a novel / by Price, Steven,1976-author.;
In sun-drenched Sicily, among the decadent Italian aristocracy of the late 1950s, Giuseppe Tomasi, the last prince of Lampedusa, struggles to complete a novel that will be his lasting legacy. With a firm devotion to the historical record, 'Lampedusa' leaps effortlessly into the mind of the writer and inhabits the complicated heart of a man facing down the end of his life, struggling to make something of lasting worth, while there is still time. Steven Price lives in Victoria, BC.
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Tomasi di Lampedusa, Giuseppe, 1896-1957; Aristocracy (Social class); Authors, Italian; Terminally ill;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Super-Italian : more than 110 indulgent recipes using Italy's healthiest foods / by De Laurentiis, Giada,author.;
"If the past few years have taught us anything, it's that life involves a series of pivots. Certainly, that has been true for Giada herself and her journey through the world of food and cooking. Although through it all her fundamental formula has not changed: good cooking = Technique + Ingredients + Ambience. In writing her 11th (yes, 11th!) cookbook, Giada has found that "healthy" needs to be a part of that fundamental formula as well. Choosing ingredients that promote wellness is the starting point not just to better meals, but to better health and longevity. We all know that food can cause inflammation, weight gain, and other maladies that lead to chronic illness, but we rarely think about the fact that the flip side is equally true. A diet rich in a variety of nutrients can make a world of difference in how you look and feel. And this is where this cookbook comes in. Every single recipe in this book will include the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to stay strong and function properly; antioxidants that tame inflammation; protein to help our bodies repair cells and make new ones; and fiber to keep our guts happy and remove waste from the body. With a deep dive into the Italian superfoods (think olives, beans and legumes, and bitter greens) as well as 100 recipes to help us get the very most out of these ingredients, Giada proves once again that she is an essential member of the food world"--
Subjects: Cookbooks.; Recipes.; Cooking, Italian.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The virgins of Venice : a novel / by Buonaguro, Gina,author.;
Venice in 1509 is on the brink of war. The displeasure of Pope Julius II is a continuing threat to the republic, as is the barely contained fighting in the countryside. Amid this turmoil, noblewoman Justina Soranzo, just sixteen, hopes to make a rare love marriage with her sweetheart, Luca Cicogna. Her hopes are dashed when her father decides her younger sister, Rosa, will marry in a strategic alliance and Justina will be sent to the San Zaccaria convent, in the tradition of aristocratic daughters. Lord Soranzo is not acting only to protect his family. It's well known that he is in debt to both his trading partners and the most infamous courtesan in the city, La Diamante, and the pressure is closing in. After arriving at the convent, Justina takes solace in her aunt Livia, one of the nuns, and in the growing knowledge that all is not strictly devout at San Zaccaria. Justina is shocked to discover how the women of the convent find their own freedom in what seems to her like a prison. But secrets and scandals breach the convent walls, and Justina learns there may be even worse fates for her than the veil, if La Diamante makes good on her threats. Desperate to protect herself and the ones she loves, Justina turns to Luca for help. She finds she must trust her own heart to make the impossible decisions that may save or ruin them all.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Convents; Man-woman relationships; Nobility; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The little Italian hotel / by Patrick, Phaedra,author.;
"Ginny Splinter, acclaimed radio host and advice expert, prides herself on knowing what's best for others. So she's sure her husband, Adrian, will love the special trip to Italy she's planned for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. But when Ginny presents the gift to Adrian, he surprises her with his own very different plan, a divorce. Beside herself with heartache, Ginny impulsively invites four heartbroken listeners to join her in Italy instead while live on air. From hiking the hills of Bologna to riding a gondola in Venice to sharing stories around the dining table of the little Italian hotel, Ginny and her newfound company embark on a vacation of healing. However, when Adrian starts to rethink their relationship, Ginny must decide whether to commit to her marriage or start afresh, alone. And an unexpected stranger may hold the key to a very different future ... "--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Friendship; Man-woman relationships; Marriage; Spouses; Vacations; Women radio talk show hosts;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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A secret in Tuscany / by Hlad, Alan,author.;
Italy, 1943: With war blazing through Europe, nowhere is entirely safe--not even the remote hills of the Tuscan countryside. It's here that Italian partisans, including thousands of women, risk their lives to provide Jewish refugees with an escape route to Switzerland. And it's here, too, that Gianna Conti travels to join the Italian Resistance in the wake of her brother Matteo's death at the hands of German soldiers. Her father has been hiding Jewish refugees on their family's vineyard in Chianti, but now Gianna is bringing the fight directly to the enemy. While delivering weapons and intelligence for partisans, Gianna meets Tazio Napoli, an American working undercover for the Office of Strategic Services. Despite the growing odds of discovery, Gianna and Tazio conduct high-risk missions to sabotage German operations. With the aid of Tazio's OSS codebook, they encrypt secret messages to each other while apart, hiding them at a dead drop in an abandoned mine. But as the Allies steadily fight their way toward Florence, occupying German forces grow more desperate, leading to a shocking, unthinkable act of vengeance. And Gianna's fate will rest upon her cunning, her resilience, and her willingness to keep hope alive, even through the decades that follow.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Spy fiction.; War fiction.; Novels.; Espionage; Guerrillas; Man-woman relationships; Revenge; Secrecy; Women guerrillas; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Sisters in resistance : how a German spy, a banker's wife, and Mussolini's daughter outwitted the Nazis / by Mazzeo, Tilar J.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In 1944, the war had reached its climax in continental Europe. News of secret diaries kept by Italy's former Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano, had permeated public consciousness. What wasn't reported, however, was how three women-a Fascist's daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite-risked their lives to ensure the diaries would reach the Allied forces, who would use the papers as key evidence against the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials. Just a year earlier, Edda Mussolini, Benito Mussolini's daughter, had given Hitler and her father an ultimatum: release her husband, Galeazzo Ciano, from prison, or risk her leaking her husband's journals to the press. Knowing the diaries will expose Nazi lies and create a foundation for a criminal war crimes prosecution, Hitler and Mussolini vow to do everything in their power to see the diaries destroyed-even if it means liquidating Mussolini's daughter. To do this, they ordered Hilde Beetz, a German spy, to seduce Ciano in prison in order to learn the diaries' location. As the seducer becomes the seduced, however, Hilde shifts her loyalties and becomes a double agent, joining forces with Edda to save Ciano from execution. When this fails, Edda flees to Switzerland with Hilde's daring assistance to keep Ciano's final wish: to see the diaries published for use by the Allies. When the head of United States' intelligence, Alan Dulles, learns of Edda's escape, he sends in socialite Frances De Chollet, an "accidental" spy, assigned by chance to a mission that would change her life. Her task is to find Edda, gain her trust, and, crucially, hand the diaries over to the Americans. Against all expectations, what develops is a rich and humanizing friendship between the two women. One step ahead of the Gestapo agents who are hunting Edda, together they succeed in preserving one of the most important historic documents of the Second World War. Drawing from in-depth research and first-person interviews with people who witnessed parts of this true story, Mazzeo gives readers a riveting look into this little-known moment in cultural history and shows how, without Edda, Hilde, and Frances's involvement, certain convictions would never have been possible at Nuremberg. Sisters in Resistance is a powerful look at women's intelligence work during WWII, a moving story of unlikely wartime friendships, and an inspirational investigation into three people who, navigated the place where truth, loyalty, justice, and betrayal collide"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Ciano, Edda Mussolini, Contessa.; Ciano, Galeazzo, conte, 1903-1944; Ciano, Galeazzo, conte, 1903-1944.; Purwin, Hilde, 1919-2010.; Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. Schutzstaffel. Reichssicherheitshauptamt. Amt VI.; Espionage, German; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Ortona : Canada's epic World War II battle / by Zuehlke, Mark.;
Includes bibliography (p. [423]-429) and index.
Subjects: Canada. Canadian Army; Ortona (Italy), Battle of, 1943.;
© c1999., Stoddart,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The girl of his dreams / by Leon, Donna;
One cold and rainy morning, the body of a gypsy is found floating in a canal. Brunetti suspects she fell off a nearby roof while fleeing an apartment she had robbed--but something about the case continues to haunt him.
Subjects: Detective and mystery stories; Brunetti, Guido (Fictitious character); Undercover operations; Mystery fiction;
© c2008., Atlantic Monthly,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia / by Gilbert, Elizabeth,1969-;
Subjects: Gilbert, Elizabeth, 1969-; Voyages and travels; Travel writers;
© 2006., Viking Penguin,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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