Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m learning Penelope Fitzgerald was a special writer. Fell in love with The Blue Flower earlier this year, and have now read this one - a bad good marriage in 1950‘s Florence with a doctor too rational to acknowledge his emotions. Ok, that‘s humble. Now hand it over to Penelope and her backhanded, almost absurd, striking lines. 🥰

August 1963.Florence,Italy,a deserted city. Searing heat. Bleary-eyed,sleep deprived Inspector Bordella,a chain-smoker in his mid-50s.Biting hordes of mosquitoes torment him at night.Flashbacks to his years as a soldier in WWII are interspersed throughout.His new police protégé is coincidentally the son of his soldier partner.A highly unusual,deviously clever murder of a wealthy, elderly Signora.A wonderful,eclectic cast characters:semi-retired?

It‘s only Monday, but what a day at work! Popcorn, Sam Adams October Fest (split with my husband), & a book. He is making dinner.🧡

"Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? To be driven by lovers - A king might envy us (...)". In "A room with a view", by E. M. Forster.

First line: “The Signora had no business to do it,” said Miss Bartlett, “no business at all. She promised us south rooms with a view close together, instead of which here are north rooms, looking into a courtyard, and a long way apart.”

Samantha thanks so much for my #jolabokaflod gift!! Sorry for the later post, I was at my sister's today and forgot to open it before I left this morning. I'm looking forward to reading this book and the chocolates are my favorite 🤤😋
#jolabokaflodswap23 @sblbooks @MaleficentBookDragon

After my trip to Italy I wanted to learn more about this family.

The life of Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman accepted into the Accademia dell‘ Arte in Florence.

What a lush novel! The way Vreeland paints a beautiful scene, and an unflinching portrait of a passionate and ambitious and flawed woman. Also loved the attention paid to Artemisia‘s process and artwork. I definitely had to look up every single painting as I read. Will be seeking out more of Vreeland‘s work! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Serendipity lead me to this novel at the Library, it‘s been around for a while. I do enjoy a good historical mystery, and this generally fits the bill, although the historical premise is a bit shaky. Wilson posits a fictional reason for the disappearance of Hans Holbein in 1543 that involves the (factual) Prebendaries Plot to bring down Thomas Cranmer and restore Catholic rule. I enjoyed “meeting” his protagonist, London goldsmith Thomas Treviot.

Hm maybe a low Pick. I LOVE Denise Mina and will read pretty much anything she writes. I love the idea behind this and the choice of subject matter. It read very quickly, and the details are well chosen. But I feel I might have got more out of it if I knew even a tiny bit about Florence in that period. I certainly learned a fair bit; before this, I knew The Bonfire of the Vanities only as the title of the novel by Tom Wolfe.