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The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman

Contemporary fiction

The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

by Lori Nelson Spielman

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Volume 0
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Quick take

Escape to the Italian countryside in this hopeful family drama about love, a curse, and second chances.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, 400

    400+ pages

  • Illustrated icon, Happy

    Happy

  • Illustrated icon, Family_Drama

    Family drama

  • Illustrated icon, LGBTQ_themes

    LGBTQ+ themes

Synopsis

Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather’s Brooklyn deli, claim it’s an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it’s a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she’ll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all.

Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed—secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse.

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Get an early look from the first pages of The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany.

The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

Prologue

Many years ago, in Trespiano, Italy, Filomena Fontana, a plain, bitter girl whose younger sister was blessed with beauty, cursed all second-born Fontana daughters to a life without love. Filomena resented her sister, Maria, from the first time she cast eyes on her, sweetly cradled in their mother’s arms.

And her childhood jealousy only festered as the two blossomed into teens. Filomena’s sweetheart, Cosimo, a young man with a wandering eye, took a shine to the younger Maria. Though Maria tried to ward off Cosimo’s unwanted advances, Cosimo persisted. Filomena warned Maria, “If you steal my Cosimo, you will be forever cursed, along with all second-born daughters.”

Not long afterward, while Cosimo was picnicking with the Fontana family, Cosimo trapped Maria down by the river, where he thought they wouldn’t be seen. He grabbed Maria, forcing a kiss from her. Before Maria could shove Cosimo away, Filomena arrived. Seeing only the kiss, Filomena became incensed. She grabbed a river rock and threw it at her sister. It struck Maria in the eye. She lost her sight in that eye, which forever drooped. Maria was no longer a beauty, and she never married.

Some say it’s a coincidence. Others insist it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. But no one can dispute the facts. Since the day Filomena issued the curse, more than two hundred years ago, not a single second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love.

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Why I love it

One of my favorite ways to travel is through a book, and during these odd pandemic times, this has been more of a comfort than ever before. I curled up with The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany on a sunny afternoon, and polished it off in one gloriously indulgent sitting. Many hours later, in the midst of squabbling children and Legos strewn about the floors, I found myself still sighing over Emilia’s sun-kissed journey to Tuscany and the family secrets that she unearths.

The second daughters of the Fontana family are afflicted with a curse to never find love—in order to break it, Emilia embarks on a quest with her great aunt Poppy and cousin Lucy to fulfill an old promise. Their path forward requires that they deal with the complexities of family, betrayals, and the tensions that they have long endured. Yet the lies and darkness of the human heart are met with grace and forgiveness, which gives The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany a tender edge.

Long after I closed the book, Emilia’s warm and heartfelt travels lingered with me, not only as a dream of the canals of Venice (which I now promise myself I will one day visit!), but as a journey of love and redemption: a wisely humorous reminder of brighter days, hopefully for all of us to come.

Member ratings (19,661)

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Contemporary fiction
View all
The Last Love Note
What Does It Feel Like?
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
The Wedding People
Honey
The Leftover Woman
The Same Bright Stars
Bye, Baby
Definitely Better Now
Swan Song
The Days I Loved You Most
The Connellys of County Down
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
Jackpot Summer
Adelaide
I Might Be in Trouble
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Again and Again
Evil Eye
Black Cake
Maame
Romantic Comedy
Someone Else’s Shoes
Once There Were Wolves
We Are the Brennans
The Bad Muslim Discount
What Comes After
Olga Dies Dreaming
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Monster in the Middle
Nine Perfect Strangers
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
Honey Girl
In Every Mirror She's Black
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Sankofa
The Unsinkable Greta James
The Love of My Life
The Five-Star Weekend
A Home for the Holidays
The Wishing Game
Behold the Dreamers
The Mothers
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Little Fires Everywhere
The Music Shop
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
The Reckless Oath We Made
When We Were Vikings
The Girl with the Louding Voice
A Good Neighborhood
Big Summer
All Adults Here
Happy & You Know It
Friends and Strangers
The Comeback
True Story
The Last Story of Mina Lee
Troubles in Paradise
White Ivy
This Close to Okay
The Chicken Sisters
The Prophets
In a Book Club Far Away
The Other Black Girl
Apples Never Fall
A Quiet Life
We Are the Light
The Most Likely Club
The Fortunes of Jaded Women
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
The Hotel Nantucket