Saracinesca (1887) is a novel by Francis Marion Crawford. Originally serialized in Blackwood’s Magazine, Saracinesca became the first in a series of four novels. Followed by Sant’Ilario (1889), Don Orsino (1892), and Corleone (1897), Saracinesca is an epic tale of history, family, and romance set in Rome during a time of immense cultural change. “In the year 1865 Rome was still in a great measure its old self. It had not then acquired that modern air which is now beginning to pervade it.” In this city of living history, church and state vie for control of a people divided on the basis of class. Against this sociopolitical backdrop, Don Giovanni Saracinesca proves an unusual character. Against the expectations of his friends and family, he remains unmarried in his early thirties and refuses to adhere to aristocratic tradition. In reality, he is deeply in love with a married woman, the Duchessa Corona d’Astrardente, who married the Duca—a much older man—when she was young. Although she feels strongly for Giovanni, she knows that her station in life will not allow an affair. Despite this, the two continue to meet, risking both life and reputation for the sake of love. Saracinesca is the first in a series of novels set in Italy by Francis Marion Crawford, a master of romance with a talent for detailed historical research. Although his reputation as a novelist has largely faded in recent years, Crawford was a bestselling author in his time and received glowing reviews for many of his novels and stories. This edition of Francis Marion Crawford’s Saracinesca is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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