In modern-day Italy, a young pianist and composer searches for her mother’s murderer, even as the killer stalks her, intent on revenge for the theft of a priceless family heirloom.
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In modern day Italy, a young composer, Anna Chiarentona, is determined to discover who killed her mother. Convinced clues will lie in her mother’s secret diaries, Anna makes a futile search for them in Ferrara and Venice.
Unaware a man is stalking her, Anna returns to the family’s ancestral estate near Siena and meets her brother’s friend, Stefan Marlowe. As they fall in love, Anna trusts Stefan with the secrets of her diaries’ search.
Anna’s controlling uncle tries to destroy their love by leading Anna to believe Stefan has betrayed her secrets. Furious, …show more content…
Gradually they discover the stalker not only killed her mother, but is intent on seeking revenge for Anna’s grandfather’s misdeeds, including the theft of a priceless Titian painting entitled The Sacred Grove.
Anna and Stefan return to Tuscany for one last vital clue, but the stalker follows, abducts Anna, and demands The Sacred Grove as ransom. Stefan struggles to find both Anna and the painting by deciphering a code hidden in a book of Debussy piano solos. Anna “composes” the last measures of a sonata with the light of a tiny mirror. When he finally realizes where Anna is, Stefan races off alone, falling into the stalker’s trap. Anna’s composition of light brings help at the last moment.
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Laurel Bunce-Polarek has a lifelong interest in writing, art history, and music, and brings these together in her debut novel, The Sacred Grove. She has attended numerous writing conferences, including the Mystery Writers Conference at the Book Passage. Born and raised in India, she has lived and traveled widely in Europe, and now lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, CA.
The Sacred Grove is similar to The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian, The Savage Garden by Mark Mills, Restoration by Olaf Olafsson and Quattrocento by James
~~~~~
In modern day Italy, a young composer, Anna Chiarentona, is determined to discover who killed her mother. Convinced clues will lie in her mother’s secret diaries, Anna makes a futile search for them in Ferrara and Venice.
Unaware a man is stalking her, Anna returns to the family’s ancestral estate near Siena and meets her brother’s friend, Stefan Marlowe. As they fall in love, Anna trusts Stefan with the secrets of her diaries’ search.
Anna’s controlling uncle tries to destroy their love by leading Anna to believe Stefan has betrayed her secrets. Furious, …show more content…
Gradually they discover the stalker not only killed her mother, but is intent on seeking revenge for Anna’s grandfather’s misdeeds, including the theft of a priceless Titian painting entitled The Sacred Grove.
Anna and Stefan return to Tuscany for one last vital clue, but the stalker follows, abducts Anna, and demands The Sacred Grove as ransom. Stefan struggles to find both Anna and the painting by deciphering a code hidden in a book of Debussy piano solos. Anna “composes” the last measures of a sonata with the light of a tiny mirror. When he finally realizes where Anna is, Stefan races off alone, falling into the stalker’s trap. Anna’s composition of light brings help at the last moment.
~~~~~
Laurel Bunce-Polarek has a lifelong interest in writing, art history, and music, and brings these together in her debut novel, The Sacred Grove. She has attended numerous writing conferences, including the Mystery Writers Conference at the Book Passage. Born and raised in India, she has lived and traveled widely in Europe, and now lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, CA.
The Sacred Grove is similar to The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian, The Savage Garden by Mark Mills, Restoration by Olaf Olafsson and Quattrocento by James