by Susan Sontag
First published 1992
In 18th-century Naples, a wealthy collector of antiquities becomes entangled in a passionate affair with a young woman, even as the ominous Mount Vesuvius rumbles in the distance. As their forbidden romance blossoms, the ever-present threat of the volcano looms, casting a shadow over their illicit tryst. Sontag masterfully weaves history, desire, and the raw power of nature into a captivating tale that examines the fragility of human lives in the face of geological upheaval.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical, historical-fiction
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: forbidden-romance, power-of-nature
Setting: Naples, Italy, Vesuvius
Period: 1734-1860
419 pages · Hardcover · Farrar Straus & Giroux