First published 2009
Writer Marlena de Blasi arrives in a Sicilian mountain village and stays with Tosca Broci at Villa Donafugata, which means "fleeing woman." Tosca has transformed the villa into a sanctuary for lonely and struggling women. She grew up in the household of a local prince, where her remarkable love story began. Tosca fell in love with the last prince of Sicily, Leo, who descended from French nobility of the house of Anjou. When Prince Leo tried to improve life for his peasants, his opposition to the local mafia cost him dearly. The present day narrative finds Tosca sharing her inherited wealth with a harmonious community of women, mostly widows who once worked the prince's lands alongside their husbands. Through Tosca's story, de Blasi recreates a world of contrasts where magnificence meets poverty, beauty coexists with suffering, and illusion clashes with harsh reality. The book explores hope, kindness, love, and the trials of women's fate in a land shaped by both tragedy and resilience.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resilience
Setting: Sicily, Villa Donafugata
Period: Present Day
416 pages · Paperback · Ediciones Martínez Roca