In Lucia's Eyes: A Novel of Casanova (Vintage International) - Softcover

Japin, Arthur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140009612X ISBN 13: 9781400096121

Publisher: Vintage, 2007

Synopsis

Lucia works as a servant girl in Italy and is engaged to be married. But after the pox disfigures her face, she flees in shame without telling her lover. Years later, as a reknowned Amsterdam courtesan who never goes out without her veil, Lucia is at the theater when she recognizes her long-lost fiancé, Giacomo Casanova; and she cannot resist the opportunity to encounter him again. Based on a woman who appeared briefly in Casanova's legendary diaries, Lucia emerges as a brilliant woman who becomes every bit his match. In Lucia's Eyes is an elegant and moving story of love denied and transformed.

About this title

Review:

"Enthralling . . . Packed with the color of 18th-century life . . . A complex examination of thwarted love . . . A marvelous reversal of hunter and prey, with a soupcon of Dangerous Liaisons . . . Lucia's slightly arch voice throbs with as much searching intelligence as sexual passion . . . What makes In Lucia's Eyes so fascinating is its melding of disparate veins: It's a painful story that arrives at profound insights about the nature of love, but it's spiked with bodice-ripper suspense and humor; it's an intensely private testimony of one woman's peculiar survival, but it's laced with a fascinating survey of 18th-century intellectual history. Brace yourself with all the skepticism you want, you'll still be seduced."-Ron Charles, Washington Post Book World"An irrisistible subject . . . Lucia is a prostitute with a 24-karat intellect. By the end of a novel that consistently pits reason against emotion, she has found the means to satisfy each."-Kathryn Harrison, New York Times Book Review"Japin has done his historical homework . . . A mesmerizing look into a Europe of long ago."-Condé Nast Traveler"A dark intrigue . . . Vivid . . . Startlingly poignant . . . unfolding in intricately plotted flashbacks and divan-rattling love scenes . . . Through Lucia, we're able to discern firsthand the secrets of Casanova's success."-Megan O'Grady, Vogue"Inspired by a character in Giacomo Casanova's History of My Life-a once beautiful girl disfigured by small pox whom the great seducer meets again in the brothels of Amsterdam-Arthur Japin spins an enthralling tale on the mystery of first love and its endurance in the face of a lifetime of hardships."-Andrea Di Robilant, author of A Venetian Affair"To see the world through Lucia's eyes is to see it in the fullness of wonders and dangers most never notice."-Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist

From the Publisher:

Wonderful new novel from the internationally best-selling author of The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 140009612X
• ISBN 13: 9781400096121
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256