First published 2013
Marlena De Blasi believed her capacity for romantic love had died. The divorced American chef travels through Italy with no intention of finding romance. Then Fernando spots her across Piazza San Marco and falls for her instantly. A year passes before fate brings them together again in a Venice café. He speaks minimal English. She knows only cooking terms in Italian. Yet something ignites between them. Within months, Marlena makes a decision that shocks everyone, including herself. She quits her career, sells her St. Louis home, and says goodbye to her two adult sons. She moves to Venice to marry this man she barely knows, the one she calls "the stranger." Her memoir captures not just her whirlwind romance with Fernando, but her equally passionate love affair with Venice itself. Through Italian recipes and culinary adventures, she discovers that sometimes the home you never knew you needed finds you in the most unexpected place.
Genres: italy, autobiography, adult-fiction, memoir, biography-memoir, 21st-century, food-writing, culinary
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, lyrical
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, second-chance
Setting: Italy, Piazza San Marco, St. Louis, Venice
Period: 1 Year
258 pages · ebook · Algonquin Books