AustLit

'Nelly Larkin has run away, and no-one knows where she is - except Pino, the local green grocer, and he is sworn to secrecy. She certainly hasn't confided in her daughter, Anna, or her grandchildren, who would only try to stop her. With her Italian dictionary and grammar book and a portrait of the Duke of Montefeltro to inspire her, Nelly settles into her small "room with a view" in a hilltop town in Tuscany.

'Her new life as the local curiosity is busy, as she works on her Italian vocabulary, learns to make the perfect zabaglione, and wards off the attentions of a persistent, yet eccentric professor of Renaissance art. She quickly becomes a part of the community - but steadfastly refuses to write home.

'Back in Australia the search for Nelly sets off a chain of events, journeys, and encounters that change the lives of her daughter Anna, her granddaughter Katherine, and even her downstairs neighbour, Mrs Ellis, forever.' (Publication summary)