The librarians of Alexandria
Subtitle: a tale of two sisters
By: Alessandra Lavagnino.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Steerforth Italia
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Hanover, NH
Language: eng
Number of pages: 313
ISBN-13: 9781586420994
Description: "The Librarians of Alexandria is a multi-generational saga spanning the years from the Unification of Italy in 1870 to the end of the Second World War. The librarians are the two Sisters Canterno: the beautiful, impassioned Marta and the withdrawn yet loving Margherita. Their intertwining stories are told by Marta's daughter, Adriana, who alternately narrates as a young girl and as a grown woman, reminiscing with the aged and infirm Margherita.

Set in Alexandria, Rome, and Palermo, the novel is at once circular and epic, a love song to culture - to languages and books, art and music - told in sensuous prose that evokes the sounds of rustling parchment manuscripts, parlor games, songs, and the strife of antiaircraft fire, while conjuring the scents of old libraries, dusty alleys, silkworm farms, and mandarin oranges."--Jacket.