This book is so amazing I lost hours of sleep reading it.It was impossible to put aside.

This almost 600-page book followsGrazia from when she is a little girl until the moment she dies. Almost theentire story is from her point of view, since you are actually reading her"secret book." It is meant as a gift to her son, something he can readonly when he has crossed the border into manhood.

Readers see anintelligent, beautiful woman driven by passion who is not ashamed to becompletely honest and not too stiff to follow her heart. Unrequited love andquestions of faith, friendship, art, sorrow, joy and desire are all captured inone book, while you get a colorful image of Italy in its golden age. Even afteralmost 600 pages, you could happily read on.