That summer in Sicily, Marlena de Blasi would enter into a world of unforgettable magic. There, in a forgotten time and place, she would discover the secret Sicilian villa of Donnafugatta, where life was ruled by ritual—and by the unassailable seventy-year-old matriarch and protectress, Tosca.

Willowy and aloof, with an aura of a distant time, Tosca was a woman whose life story begged to be told. In the warmth of Tosca’s kitchen, where ancient blessings are murmured and Pecorino grated over simmering pots of purple eggplants, the story of Tosca’s fairy-tale romance with an Italian prince would unfold.

This bountiful feast for the imagination is filled with gorgeous food, larger-than-life characters, beauty, tragedy, and a love that fills the heart.

MARLENA DE BLASI, who has worked as a chef and food and wine consultant, lives in Italy, where she assembles and conducts gastronomic tours of the various regions. She is the author of three previous memoirs, A Thousand Days in Venice, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, and The Lady in the Palazzo.