Summary
It’s the 1980s, and art historian Claire Markham reels from a series of heartbreaking losses. Desperate to escape her shattered reality, she becomes an art guide in Europe for quirky stranger Viv Chancey and embarks on a life-changing journey through the art-filled cities of Milan, Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Siena, Rome, and Paris.
Once abroad, Claire tries to hide her woes by focusing on Viv’s art education, but Viv—who is not who she seems—has a different learning experience in mind. Frustrated and wanting to reimagine her life, Claire embraces the idea of reality as illusion and finds herself slipping into the tales of art and history.
When threatened with one more crushing loss, Claire must learn from the spirit of her eccentric companion and the lessons from the art they encounter to take charge of her life or lose the most precious thing in it.
About the author
Born in New York, I lived in five states before my family settled in California when I was a teenager. I was introduced to international travel the summer after my high school graduation, touring Europe and studying French for a month in Tours, France. During my junior year in college, I again went to France for school and began my love affair with art.
At the end of my junior year, my parents moved to Rome, and I lived with them for three summers while completing my B.A. degree in French and pursuing my M.A. degree in art history.
I worked as a college art history professor for twenty-five years. In the summers, I taught art history courses and led tours in Greece, Italy, and France. And for three of those summers, I established a business in Paris, offering art tours for American travelers.
I live in Southern California with my husband and devote my time to writing while continuing to travel international.
