Piazza Carousel: A Florence Love Story
Jule Selbo, 2017
Dakota, Inc.
317 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780692919255
Summary
Lyn Bennett has arrived in historic Florence, Italy to discover details of her mother’s past as one of the city’s beloved Mud Angels — a group of volunteers who helped save Florence’s art during the 1966 flood.
When Lyn is shocked by a betrayal of those closest to her, she takes a hard look at her expectations of love and fidelity — and how she has made decisions in her life.
New friend, Matteo, a curator in the restoration office of the Uffizi Museum, becomes a conduit to uncovering secrets of her mother’s past. He, along with the city of Florence, with its pride, strength and beauty, inspire her to step past the "should do this" in her life, be true to herself and open her heart. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Fargo, North Dakota, USA
• Education—N/A
• Currently—lives in Portland, Maine
Jule Selbo loves stories in all shapes and forms. She started her career as a playwright in New York City. That led to working in television and film. She has written feature films for Disney, Paramount, Columbia and Universal Pictures. She has also written and produced televisions series for major networks; favorite jobs including working for George Lucas, George Romero, Roland Joffe and Aaron Spelling.
In addition, Selbo has written books on screenwriting and film history including Film Genre for the Screenwriter (2015), Women Screenwriters, An International Guide (with Jill Nelmes, 2016), Screenplay: Building Story Through Character (2007-2015). She was instrumental in building the Masters of Fine Arts in Screenwriting program at California State University, Fullerton, where she is a professor.
Piazza Carousel: A Florence Love Story (2017) is her first fiction novel; it grew out of her time living in — and falling in love with — the wonderful city of Florence, Italy. She now lives in Portland, Maine. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Jule on Twitter.
Book Reviews
…There is a wonderful underlying theme in this book of disaster or hardship being overcome and then rebuilding from the ruins. Whether this is after a natural disaster like the flood, or from an emotional disaster such as a betrayal of a friend or loved one. It’s not an overly emphasised theme which makes it all the more appealing.
The love interest also fits in well with the flow of the story. It never feels forced, as it sometimes does in a story, and the relationship develops naturally with everyday ups and downs adding to its realistic portrayal.
There is very little I could find to criticise in this book, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I found reading it was like curling up with a hot chocolate on a rainy day…. Classified as other fiction, it could almost fall into the romance genre, but there is something about it which adds an extra quality. This is a book for a wide audience, especially those who like to travel or want to fall in love with the beauty and history of Florence. A well-deserved congratulations to the author (4 out of 4 stars).
REVDATA - Official Online BookClub.org
Love and betrayal, mud angels, secrets unearthed from the flood waters of Italy — what more could a reader want? Jule Selbo has painted a picture worth seeing in her debut novel, Piazza Carousel — a merry-go-round of romance and intrigue, set to the beautiful backdrop of historic Florence.
Kathy Aspden - author, Baklava, Biscotti and An Irishman
Reading this book is like taking an Italian vacation — intoxicating, fascinating and hard to leave. The author's style is so easy, her skill so apparent and her familiarity with the city so obvious that it's impossible to resist the book's charms. Not every twist comes as a surprise, but the story is rich and satisfying, and the characters are complex and convincing. Altogether a wonderful debut novel (5 out of 5 stars).
DD - Amazon Customer Review
Discussion Questions
1. In 1966, the Arno River in Florence Italy flooded to catastrophic proportions and some of the world’s most well-known art was in danger. The important Uffizi Museum was flooded, many of the great churches and libraries. Volunteers from around the world came to help save what they could — art and books from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and more. Art is often a reflection of the time period in which it was created and can tell us about day-to-day life, censorship, beliefs, and hopes and dreams. Losing art can be like losing insights into history. What painting or sculptures or other artwork has affected you and/or makes you think of a certain period in history? If we didn’t have these sources of insight, what could we be missing?
2. Friendship is built on trust. Female friendships can be very strong and true. In Piazza Carousel, Lyn believes her relationship with her best girlfriend is solid. But she learns otherwise. When a romantic liaison with a man comes between two women, is friendship relegated to second place? Does romantic love trump all? Does a betrayal of deep friendship sting longer and more deeply that a break up of romantic love?
3. There was competition between the richest people of Florence during the Renaissance to see who could commission the most/largest/best art. Because painting and sculpture and architecture were supported in this way, many artists thrived. What would our culture be like if artists were supported in that way today?
4. In Piazza Carousel, Lyn’s mother, Jenny, was drawn to a fellow Mud Angel in Florence during the aftermath of the 1966 flood. He fell in love with her and wanted her to choose him above the promises and home she had in America. Is it possible to love two people at one time? How does one choose the "life" that will, ultimately, be a better fit? Can "love" be decided rationally? Is it always an emotional decision?
5. Sometimes we lose a person that is close to us and then realize that his or her stories have not been fully told. In Piazza Carousel, Lyn feels the loss of not hearing all her mother’s stories before she passed. How important is it to make the time to hear those stories before they are lost forever?
6. Italian families — parents and grown children — often live together much longer than American families. In the Italian culture, this is expected. In Piazza Carousel, Matteo and Valentina live in the same small apartment building in Florence. In America, many families are spread out, often in different states or areas of the country. What is it about the two variant cultures that make for this difference?
7. In Piazza Carousel, Lyn works with writers who have come to Florence for a seminar. She learns something from each of them and their opinions and comments reflect on her story. What characters in the writing group stand out as ones that affected Lyn’s thinking and her dealing with her feelings concerning the dissolution of the marriage?
8. Piazza Carousel is about Lyn’s struggle to get in touch with what she truly wants to do, not what she thinks she should do. Is that a common problem?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)