Lucia ─ A Venetian Life in the Age of Napleon

In 1787, the beautiful Lucia is married off to Alvise Mocenigo, scion of one of the most powerful Venetian families. But their life as a golden couple will be suddenly transformed when Venice falls to Bonaparte. We witness Lucia's painful series of miscarriages and the pressure on her to produce an heir; her impassioned affair with an Austrian officer; the glamour and strain of her career as a hostess in Vienna; and her amazing firsthand account of the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. With his brave and articulate heroine, Andrea di Robilant has once again reached across the centuries, and deep into his own past, to bring history to rich and vivid life on the page.

Andrea Di Robilant was born in Italy and educated at Le Rosey and Columbia University, where he specialized in international affairs. His first book, A Venetian Affair, was published by Knopf in 2003. He currently lives in Rome with his wife and two children and works for the Italian newspaper La Stampa.