Feverish Zest (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798232486396)

A knock on her apartment door pulls Gemma Ricordi away from an uncooperative batch of ragù. Standing on her doormat is a young girl, unable or unwilling to speak, clutching a note from Gemma's estranged sister. This is my daughter Grace. Look after her as if she were your own.

Two days later another castaway comes knocking on the Ricordis' door: Felice, Gemma's brother-in-law, freshly out of a job after an academic scandal cost him his professorship.

This double exile is the opening act in a decade-long saga capturing the conflicts and ambitions of the Ricordis. A family of cooks, musicians, and garbage collectors, looking for a way out of the placid, snide life of Milan's periphery. Getting suspended, dumped, and arrested. Carving their paths to glory through each other's feelings.