Valeria Gasparini

Valeria Gasparini is introduced as the mother of Arianna Gasparini, a housewife who lives on the lagoon island of Torrone. She is married to Gianfranco Gasparini, the curator of a museum on Torrone, and the mother of two grown sons, Tommaso and Angelo, who work as fisherman on Merlino.
==Overview==
A loving and kind mother, Valeria is nevertheless disappointed that Arianna risked her life attempting to become mandolier by remaining in Bellezza on the forbidden day after the Marriage with the Sea. She and Gianfranco arrange for Arianna to live in Bellezza with Gianfranco's sister-in-law, Leonora as a punishment in hopes of stilling Arianna's desire to be in the city. When Arianna returns to the island with Leonora and Lucien, Valeria welcomes her daughter back for the visit. During Arianna's visit, Valeria's parents are revealed to be a lacemaker, Paola Bellini, and a baker, Gentile.
When Arianna is caught for remaining in the city on the forbidden day, Silvia Bellini, the Duchessa of Bellezza, reveals that she is actually Arianna's true mother and that Valeria is Arianna's maternal aunt. The Duchessa had arranged for Valeria, her older sister, to adopt Arianna because she knew that Valeria would never betray her and that after having two sons, Valeria wanted a daughter to raise. She and Gianfranco raised Arianna as their own child for the next sixteen years without revealing the child's heritage to anyone.
Though Arianna is aware that Silvia is her mother and acknowledges her as such, she still regards and addresses Valeria as her mother, being the woman who raised her. City of Stars. After becoming Duchessa, Arianna has been known to visit Valeria and Gianfranco on Torrone, usually when she is feeling homesick or needs a place to think privately without the pressures of the Ducal Palace around her.
Valeria makes a brief appearance towards the end of City of Swords, attending Arianna's wedding to Luciano Crinamorte with the rest of Arianna's family.
==Notes and References==
Category:Characters