Book cover of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language

Book description

A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman’s personal quest to speak fluent Italian.

For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is…

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Why read it?

1 author picked La Bella Lingua as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Good books about language - one’s own or a foreign tongue - are a real reading treat for me. In part, this is because there are never enough such books with just the right balance of erudition and entertainment, with miscellaneous tidbits and tales of local culture too.

La Bella Lingua has it all, and I was also fortunate to be able to spend two weeks in Rome this year, and read it in situ. A wonderful read that spurred my new found love of the Italian language.

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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