Book Summary and Reviews of The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman

Book Summary

A trio of second-born daughters set out to break the family curse that says they'll never find love on a whirlwind journey through the lush Italian countryside by New York Times bestseller Lori Nelson Spielman, author of The Life List.

Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather's Brooklyn deli, claim it's an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it's a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she'll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all.

Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed—secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. When she first steps foot on Italian soil, Poppy cries, "Hiraeth!": a Welsh word conveying a deep longing for home, a nostalgia—a yearning—for the place that calls to your soul. Do you understand this feeling? Have you ever been to a place that feels inexplicably familiar or eerily unsettling? How do you explain it?
2. In chapter two, Emilia calls Bensonhurst home. When she returns from Italy, her perspective has changed. Have you ever felt trapped by a place you once loved? In what ways does travel change us? Are you more closely aligned with Poppy, an adventurous spirit who's always in search of something, or the earlier version of Lucy, someone seemingly content in her small but predictable world?
3. Poppy claims...