First published 1987
Rennie hunches over his academic work in a deteriorating villa somewhere in the Tuscan countryside. The walls crumble around him as he puts the finishing touches on his dissertation, absorbed in his scholarly pursuits while his wife Louise watches their relationship fall apart. The villa mirrors their marriage: once beautiful, now falling into disrepair through neglect and time. Louise sees the decay everywhere. She sees it in the peeling paint, the broken shutters, the way Rennie barely looks up from his papers when she enters the room. While he loses himself in abstract theories and footnotes, she confronts the concrete reality of their failing connection. But as Rennie retreats further into his academic world, Louise begins to discover new paths forward. The crumbling villa that seemed like a prison starts to feel like a place of possibility. She finds herself imagining a different kind of life, one that breaks free from conventional expectations about marriage and duty.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, contemporary, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, falling-apart, found-family
Setting: Tuscan Countryside, Villa
Period: Contemporary
Hardcover · Viking Adult