Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Eternally Artemisia Author: Melissa Muldoon ISBN: 978-0-9976348-7-7 Publisher: Matta Press Type of book: Italy, 17th century, reincarnation, 1930s, modern times, art, creativity, sexual harrassment, painting, space, Artemisia, Judith Beheading Holofernes, friendship between women, connections, fashion Year it was published: 2019 Summary: They say some loves travel through time and are fated to meet over and over again. For Maddie, an art therapist, who wrestles with the “peculiar feeling” she has lived previous lives and is being called to Italy by voices that have left imprints on her soul, this idea is intriguing. Despite her best efforts, however, proof of this has always eluded her. That is, until one illuminating summer in Italy when Maddie’s previous existences start to bleed through into her current reality. When she is introduced to the Crociani family—a noble clan with ties to the seventeenth-century Medici court that boasts of ancestors with...

Name of Book: Waking Isabella Author: Melissa Muldoon ISBN: 978-0-9976348-2-2 Publisher: MattaPress Type of book: Italy, dreams, fairy-tale, WWII, 1500s, Medicis, Isabella, paintings, hidden secrets, 2000s, Arezzo, jousting, teams, competition, whimsy Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Waking Isabella is a story about uncovering hidden beauty that, over time, has been lost, erased, or suppressed. It also weaves together several love stories as well as a few mysteries. Nora, an assistant researcher, is a catalyst for resolving the puzzle of a painting that has been missing for decades. Set in Arezzo, a small Tuscan town, the plot unfolds against the backdrop of the city’s antique trade and the fanfare and pageantry of its medieval jousting festival. While filming a documentary about Isabella de’ Medici—the Renaissance princess who was murdered by her husband—Nora begins to connect with the lives of two remarkable women from the past. Unraveling the stories of Isabell...

Name of Book: Dreaming Sophia Author: Melissa Muldoon ISBN: 978-0-9976348-0-8 Publisher: Matta Press Type of book: Italy, fairytale, culture, art periods, dreams, Sophia Loren, famous personages of Italy, Venice, Rome, Sonoma Califonira, Florence, Lucca, Verona, Val d'Orcia, family, friends, art, destiny Year it was published: 2016 Summary: Dreaming Sophia is a magical look into Italy, language, art, and culture. It is a story about turning dreams into reality and learning to walk the fine line between fact and fantasy. When tragedy strikes, Sophia finds herself alone in the world, without direction and fearful of loving again. With only her vivid imagination to guide her, she begins a journey that will take her from the vineyards in Sonoma, California to a grad school in Philadelphia and, eventually, to Italy: Florence, Lucca, Rome, Verona, Venice, and Val d'Orcia. Through dreamlike encounters, Sophia meets Italian personalities--princes, poets, duchesses, a...