I Give It To You

Description

Jan Vidor seems like the ideal houseguest for a long summer holiday in a Tuscan villa. Unobtrusive but not antisocial, the quiet American academic can be relied upon to entertain herself - but her aristocratic hostess Beatrice has made a terrible mistake. An offhand remark about a violent death at Villa Chiara one night during the War piques Jan's writerly interest and sends her digging into the tragic past of the Salviati family. Does it matter if Jan just fills in the gaps? After all, Beatrice told Jan she could have the story to do as she liked with, she even said 'I give it to you'... I Give It To You is a riveting novel about who owns a story, whether we have a right to what we inherit and what a gift really means.

Valerie Martin is the author of ten novels, including The Ghost of the Mary Celeste, Mary Reilly, Italian Fever and Property, which won the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has also written three collections of short fiction including Sea Lovers, and a biography of Saint Francis of Assisi, Salvation.

Martin writes with amplitude, precision, grace and wit -- Margaret Atwood She always produces something unexpected and revelatory -- Jane Smiley Martin's writing is a reward in itself, a wonderful precision-tool. She uses it to chisel at the human condition - and the effect is astonishing * Financial Times * Valerie Martin has always been a consummate storyteller, but in her new novel she tackles the question of where do a writer's stories come from. And to whom does a story belong? The person it happened to or the one who tells it. In some ways all writers betray their subjects, and Valerie Martin digs into the heart of that betrayal. Reminiscent of Rachel Cusk's Outline Martin masterfully gives voice to those who have been silenced, whose stories would be lost were it not for a writer to retell it. -- Mary Morris, author of Gateway to the Moon Valerie Martin is a fleet-footed writer; you never quite know where she'll go next * Observer * An Italian villa and the family that owns it capture the imagination of an American writer in Martin's intimate, disquieting latest ... Martin's engrossing tale explores relationships among family members and workers over four generations ... Martin's masterly descriptions of the villa and its gardens are transportive. Evoking the charms and complexities of 20th-century Italy, Martin offers a thought-provoking reflection on writing, friendship, family, and betrayal. * Publishers Weekly * Yes, the narrator of Martin's new novel is a middle-aged American woman vacationing in Tuscany, but this prickly, uncomfortably relevant dive into personal and societal ethics is no escapist romance... Martin parses personal and social politics with methodical care and a reserved tone reminiscent of Edith Wharton. * Kirkus, starred review * Immensely satisfying ... cleverly plotted and packed with great characters, both Jan's creative struggles and her beautifully wrought stories of the Salviati family lift themselves effortlessly free of their source material, whatever or wherever that may be. They demonstrate the enchanted moment when words on a page rise by virtue of the alliance of a mysterious grace and sheer hard work, and create magic. -- Christobel Kent * Guardian * The story slips between past and present and is an interesting reversal of all the usual mellow Italian tropes. We may be Under The Tuscan Sun, but we're definitely in the shadows here ... an absorbing read * Daily Mail * Exquisite -- Jane Shilling * Daily Telegraph *