First published 1996
Margaret Johnson travels through sunlit Florence with her beautiful daughter Clara, seeking connection in a foreign land that both enchants and unsettles her. The intoxicating beauty of Italy presents her with an unexpected moral dilemma as Clara becomes involved with a local man. In another tale, an American woman in Rome and Venice fights to break free from her husband's controlling grip, struggling through the cold winter darkness of the city. These stories follow mostly southern Americans who wander Italian cities and countryside, searching for fulfillment but never fully adapting to the mysterious customs they encounter. Spencer's characters face the contrasts between their familiar southern roots and the alluring yet enigmatic Italian culture. The collection captures both faces of Italy: the bright, romantic Florence of summer and the shadowy, threatening Rome of winter. Each story explores the tension between American expectations and Italian realities, between the desire for connection and the barriers of cultural difference.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: culture-clash, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Florence, Italy, Rome, Venice
Period: 20th-century
239 pages · Paperback · University Press of Mississippi