A city of love, food, music and passion - this is a novel for anyone who fell in love with LA DOLCE VITA.
Rome in the 1950s, there's nowhere quite like it. The narrow stone streets, the fountains and piazzas full of life in the heat of the day, the cafes and bars full of music and desire by night. . .
This is where Serafina calls home. Having grown up with her sisters in a tiny apartment tucked in the top of a tumbledown building, she has watched her mother get by on next to nothing, and turn herself beautiful with a sweep of eyeliner and a hand-sewn dress.
When her mother goes out, Serafina and her sisters go singing in the nearest piazza, busking for spare change and cinema tickets. The girls long to meet their matinee idols and Serafina daydreams of Mario Lanza and his spellbinding voice. But the sisters will grow up quickly and for Serafina, a choice opens between the world she knows and the life she dreams of.
Nicky Pellegrino was born in Liverpool and spent childhood holidays staying with her father's family in southern Italy. When she started writing fiction, it was the memories of those summers in Italy that came flooding back and flavoured her stories.
Nicky now lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, dogs and horses. A former magazine editor, she combines work as a freelance journalist with writing number one bestselling novels, including Under Italian Skies, A Dream Of Italy and A Year At Hotel Gondola. Her books sell around the world and have been translated into numerous languages.