A Thousand Days in Venice~ Teaser Tuesday

Hosted by MizB at shouldbereading.

Here's how to play:

*Grab your current read,

*Open to a random page,

*Share a few “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page,

*Please no spoilers!

*Share the title & author.

From Marlena De Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice":

"The forever barman at the Monaco is Paolo, dear Paolo, who had stuffed newspaper into my wet boots eight months before, when I'd missed my first rendezvous with Fernando. He herds us out onto the terrace into the luster of a slow-ripening evening. He brings us cold wine and says, "Guardate. Look," pointing with his chin at the mezzotint, the Canaletto, live before us in the rosy leavings of the sun. His everyday tableau delights him, surprises him. Paola can never be old in my eyes...

.....The promontory is raised up above the lagoon on a million wooden pilings, and at the summit of the building's stone tower twin Atlases bear up a great golden sphere, a perch for Fortuna, goddess of all fates. She is beautiful. A timid wind tries to dance with her now. And slim shards of light become her. "L'ultima luce. Last light," we say to each other like a prayer. "Promise me we'll always be together at last light," Fernando says, needing no promise at all.

If I could give Venice to you for a single hour, it would be this hour, and it would be in this chair that I would sit you, knowing Paolo would be close by, clucking about over your comfort, knowing that the night that comes to thieve that lush last light would also make off with your heartaches. That's how it would be." 

Not only is this wonderful writer's prose inspiring (she had me sobbing at the end at 7:30 in the morning), but once the romantic adventure with love and with Venice is over (for now), she includes recipes in the back from the couple's first few days together.  So tonight I made the very first recipe in the section called, "Food for a Stranger": A Gratin of Leeks made with mascarpone, nutmeg, 'just-cracked pepper', fine sea salt, vodka and Parmesan cheese. It was fabulous. I'm not a chef but I'm so excited to try a few more of her recipes. 

Reading and researching Venice for my WIP (love my hobby/job!), I found her descriptions of Venice dreamy, luscious, evocative and left me begging the angels to let it rub off on me. I'm going straight to her next book!