Strangers' Gallery

by JonathanKeates (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1989

  $3.25

  Set in Italy in the late 1840s, this is the story of Edmund Rivers, an exiled 19-year-old Englishman, who lives in his uncle's house and finds himself not only socially transgressive but also on the fringe of intrigue, murder and betrayal. The author's collection of stories Allegro Postillions won the Hawthornden and James Tait Black prizes for fiction and he recently published a book about Handel.

• Used

  Paperback
  1998

  $3.25

  Villafranca is a provincial town in northern Italy. In the spring of 1847 it holds few charms for Edward Rivers, bored, nineteen and lonely, until a chance encounter changes everything. On an isolated road he meets Cristina, a kindred spirit trapped within the formalities of an arranged marriage, and falls in love with her. Passion hurls him into a vortex of desire, subterfuge and jealousy. Villafranca is a city of secrets which others long to share with Edward, envious of his freedom, eager for his trust. The slow dawning of emotional involvement lead to a series of crucial relationships - with shrewd, patient Mariclo', the girl whom he has really loved from the beginning, with Basevi, his uncle's Jewish steward, with Guido, whose engagement to Cristina hides a hunger for Edward's affection.