The Lady in the Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story

Marlena di Blasi seduced readers to fall in love with Venice, then Tuscany, with her popular and critically acclaimed books A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany. Now she takes readers on a journey into the heart of Orvieto, an ancient city in the less-trodden region of Umbria. Rich with history and a vivid sense of place, her tale is by turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, as she and her husband search for a home in this city on a hill-finding one that turns out to be the former ballroom of a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo. Along the way, de Blasi befriends an array of colorful characters, including cooks and counts and shepherds and a lone violinist, cooking her way into the hearts of her Umbrian neighbors. Brimming with life and kissed by romance, The Lady in the Palazzo perfectly captures the essence of a singular place and offers up a feast-and the recipes to prepare it!-for readers of all stripes. An American chef and food and wine journalist, Marlena de Blasi has written five memoirs, a novel, and two books about the regional foods of Italy. She lives with her husband in the Umbrian hilltown of Orvieto. Her work has been translated into twenty-six languages. Orvieto, an ancient Italian city rising above the cliffs of Umbria, is among the most dramatic in Europe. It is here that Marlena de Blasi, author of the national bestseller A Thousand Days in Venice, sets out to make a home-in the former ballroom of a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo-and win over her neighbors, who include artisans, counts, shepherds, and a lone violinist. Though wary of a stranger in their midst, they find her passion for the fine arts of cooking and eating irresistible, and together they create a spectacular feast as breathtaking as the city itself. By turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, The Lady in the Palazzo seductively captures the essence of a singular place. Part One: The Next House 1. A Life Lived Well Moves Backward 2. Truth, Hard and Ho, Has Its Pleasures 3. Once in a While, Let Life Shape Itself 4. Life Is Lived in Epochs Part Two: Waiting for a Ballroom 5. That's Umbria Out There 6. Everywhere in Orvieto This Is the Suspicion of Glory 7. Bombastes Is Back in Town 8. Umbria Is Italy Unmingled 9. She Says People Need to Be Together as Much as They Need to Eat 10. Besides, They All Have Something of the Ass about Them, Chou 11. I Preferred One Waltz with a Beauty to a Lifetime with Someone Less Rare 12. Wait until Midnight If You Can 13. Sleep Well and Rise Early to an Exuberance of Bells 14. Most All of Us Abide in Ruins 15. I'd Like to Have Hair the Color of Hot Copper Wires 16. And Be Careful of Edgardo d'Onofrio 17. The Orvietani 18. We're Going to Live in a Ballroom, Fernando. Isn't That the Most Wonderful Thing You Ever Heard? 19. Brahms at Eight O'Clock from Across the Vicolo Part Three: In Via del Duomo 20. Where I Come From, We Invite Our Neighbors and Friends to Supper 21. Black Ties and Party Dresses 22. Would the Lady Be Pleased by a Waltz? The Feast Pan-Sautéed Winter Pears with Pecorino and Walnut Focaccia Umbrichelli with Olivada Leg of Spiced Pork Slow-Braised in Red Wine with Prunes Roasted Chestnut Polenta Brown Sugar Gelato with Caramelized Blood Oranges Warm Sambuca Fritters Acknowledgements "[De Blasi's] poetic writing style, her meditative internal monologues, her celebration of traditional foods and her inclusion of a number of recipes from the region, make this a feast for armchair travelers, food enthusiasts, romantics and anyone who enjoys a good story with a happy ending." -Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram