Margot Harrington, an American woman living in Italy, is drawn even deeper into that irresistible and unknowable country.The force beckoning her is a movie called The Italian Lover, based on a story Margot lived and made into a book some twenty-five years earlier. Now, at last, that book is on its way to film, and Margot sees a role in helping the producer understand her story.But of course no movie is true to the life it is based on, and Margot is drawn deep into a new set of dreams being assembled for the screen. In the beautiful cafes and streets of Florence, where Margot and her new lover, Woody, are finding their way together, Margot is caught up in conflicts and dramas she could never have imagined. As she comes to know the producer, the director, the actress who will play her, and everyone else working to give her story new life, Margot confronts her ideas about the past, about love, about home, about everything. Romantic affairs, a marriage, and even a divorce are witnessed and blessed. By the end of Robert Hellenga's new novel, the film called The Italian Lover has taken on a life of its own. But this book is about much more than a movie. It's about love and death and memory and desire - the ways lives are launched, enjoyed, endured, and made meaningful. Read Less