The book is a romance/historical fiction novel that takes place in Siena, Italy following a young woman who discovers that her family’s origins reach all the way back to literature’s greatest star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The chapters alternate between modern day Julie Jacobs and 14th-century Giulietta. We had mixed reactions to the book itself. Some felt it was a contrived and predictable romance novel, yet we all agreed that the descriptions of Siena were very well done, and discovering more about the history leading up to Shakespeare's version (yes version!!) of Romeo and Juliet was also very intriguing, as we discovered that Shakespear was NOT the first to publish RAJ! We did agree that the modern day chapters were not as captivating as the historical chapters.
For more information about Juliet, the Novel go to http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/anne_fortier/
Nancy also treated us to a wonderful slideshow of pictures from her actual trip to Siena, Italy and showed a video clip of the Palio di Siena, a horse race that originated in the 14th century and still takes place today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzKAxEx4I2Q
Nancy offered a colorful assortment of Italian refreshments: "mad" punch, a pull apart bread baked with fresh herbs, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese, home-made pesto and hummus served with colorful pepper slices and cucumbers, and a hearty Italian Zuppa! For the grand finale we enjoyed Nancy's home-made cranberry biscotti and a delightful lemoncello gelato!
Nancy also had set up a table with little wind-up horses so we could compete in our own Il Palio.
