It is there that Laura meets M., an aesthetics professor from Paris who bares a slight resemblance to Bob Dylan and an oversized love of life. He draws Laura out of herself and teaches her that while she may have to defer some dreams -- having a family, for example, there is still time for an adventure. Soon, what they both had presumed would be a casual weekend turns into a transatlantic love story. They explore the souks and gardens of Marrakesh and tour a Baroque palace near Lake Maggiore, where Napoleon surreptitiously bedded an Italian princess. They drink grappa in Stromboli and tour art museums in London. They drive a convertible from San Francisco to the edge of Los Angeles where they discover a wild and rugged island nature preserve. And soon Laura finds that she is not only capable of loving again but that she herself -- every ounce of her -- is desirable and sensuous.

Written in the second person and full of heart, "An Italian Affair" is at once every wornan's nightmare -- desertion -- and every woman's fantasy -- recovery by means of sexyaffair. Part travelogue, part memoir of a divorce and the difficulties of sustaining romantic love, this sensuous and uplifting book, offers hope out of heartbreak, and the bittersweet knowledge that love may not be as lasting as you once dreamed but it can be savored when it arrives unexpeetedly.