The House in Amalfi [Audio Cassette]

Elizabeth Adler (Author), Carrington MacDuffie (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2005

Let Elizabeth Adler sweep you away to the dramatic cliffs and ocean of Italy’s Amalfi coast, in this novel of secrets, memories, and unexpected love…

Lamour Harrington’s husband died two years ago. Since then, she has immersed herself in her landscape architecture, but even creating beautiful outdoor “rooms” can't bring back her sense of peace. When she's faced with a devastating truth about the husband she adored, Lamour needs a place to recharge. She returns to the house on the Amalfi coast where she'd lived with her father during the happiest years of her childhood. But the house of her memories has secrets all its own, forcing her to face new truths about another man she once loved. Was her father’s death truly accidental? Or was he hiding something that caused his early demise? Torn between two mysterious and compelling men, Lamour discovers that the past has a way of returning when you least expect it. And someone wants to ensure that Lamour doesn’t uncover the secrets of this idyllic, dreamy coastal getaway. As the past and the present collide in a shattering and suspenseful climax, Lamour must face the things she fears the most, in order to find the courage to live life to the fullest. The House in Amalfi is addictively page-turning, a novel to tantalize every sense and keep you spellbound.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With her 16th novel, Adler (Last Time I Saw Paris, etc.) once again brings a far-flung locale to life with escapist flair, taking the reader—along with the questing heroine—on a trip to the coast of southern Italy. Two years after her husband's unexpected death, landscape architect Lamour Harrington suffers more heartbreak when she learns of his infidelity. So she sells her apartment and, along with her dear friend Jammy, leaves windswept Chicago for balmy Italy, where she hopes not only to alleviate her recent grief but also face other ghosts of her past. When she was 17, her father, a novelist, died in a mysterious boating accident while they were living on the Amalfi coast. Seeking to recover her spirit and understand her father's death, she returns to the house they shared. Near the azure waters of the Mediterranean, Lamour's grief begins to lift immediately, especially after she reacquaints herself with the area's charms, including men eager to woo her. But her neighbors seem to know something about her family's past, and she begins to unravel the events leading to her father's death. Despite clunky dialogue, the novel engages with a light story and luscious descriptions of food and scenery. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Adler is known for her skill in describing place, and she exceeds all expectations in detailing of Rome and Amalfi in her newest novel. Alder captures villages, gardens, houses, and everyday life, all to the reader's vast enjoyment. And her language is deft and graceful as she tells the story of Lamour Harrington, a depressed and recently widowed landscape architect. Lamour journeys back to her childhood home in Italy to discover what led to her beloved father's death, and to try to regain some happiness. The magic in Adler's novels resides not only in place but also in the stories she weaves. And her romances are not just between men and women; they are between reader and landscape. Here the atmosphere is so lush, gardens grow from the page; her descriptions are so beautiful and clear that one could wander her cities with only this book as the map, and so evocative that the reader feels that he or she has also eaten pizza in a tiny cafe, and watched fishermen unload their catch. Neal Wyatt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Sound Library; Unabridged edition (August 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792737105
• ISBN-13: 978-0792737100
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,297,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Adler is a self-confessed romantic, a travel addict and a foodie, all of which she brings to the reader in her novels, along with a tough thrust of suspense and an unfolding mystery that keeps you on your toes. Elizabeth has lived in many countries and when she's not writing spends time discovering even more places to bring to you, with her husband, Richard - still in love after all these years - as are the characters featured in her past three novels, Mac Reilly the Malibu PI and Sunny Alvarez, his lover and side kick. You have to read about them to know them! Elizabeth lives in California and has the ability to take you to all those romantic places she knows so well, Capri, Venice, Tuscany, St. Tropez, Monte Carlo, and of course, Malibu. You will feel you are there, with her, sitting on that Italian terrace, sipping that coffee, smelling the delicious food, savoring the heat and the sunshine and the mystery unfolding for you. Elizabeth is five-three and wishes she were taller, blind as a bat without her glasses that anyway she is too vain to wear, and at 128 lbs till thinking about that diet. She has one daughter, Anabelle who is married to rock musician Eric Avery and two kitties, the Siamese, Sweet Pea who rules the household, and an adorable black cat Sunny.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lamour (the main character) seems like a blond 12 year old rather than a grown woman of 38 years, February 2, 2006

By 

JJ "Readin' & Skiin' in" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House in Amalfi (Hardcover)

This book flows nicely, has beautiful imagery, and draws you along. However, Lamour (the main character) seems like a blond 12 year old rather than a grown woman of 38 years. How is it possible that she was so wrapped up in her life in Amalfi that she didn't realize that she would need to transport her chickens to her home, feed, and house them? That's like going to Home Depot and buying 10' lengths of wood to put in your Mini Cooper. My second peeve was the premise of the whole book...that she owned her fathers house in Amalfi. Did she ever hear of a deed, title, or even a will? It seems unreasonable to me that she would just assume she owned the house...had she been paying taxes on it?? Did she ever have to do anything to this house that made it clear she owned it or was she basing this all on the fact that she lived there once upon a time. If that was the case we could all own really nice houses across the country!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Adler Takes You On Romantic Italian Trip, February 25, 2006

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House in Amalfi (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Adler brings her perfect blend of romance between man and woman and romance between reader and locale to this charming tale set on the exquisite Italian coast. I doubt anyone will finish this book without thinking several times of calling a travel agent and booking the next flight to Italy. To be in Amalfi---to shop, to eat, to view the lush landscape would be a dream anyone would dream after finishing this novel.

The only drawback to the novel is that the heroine, Lamour Harrington, is a bit of a ditz. If you can accept the fact that a woman of thirty-eight is not bright enough to know you don't automatically own a house just because you once lived there or that for all her screaming about being strong and independent she does not find true happiness until she meets her future husband, then you can let yourself enjoy this tale that is mostly light and humorous, but takes a very dark and suspenseful turn that does save it and lift it out of the mediocrity of "chic lit."

Recently widowed by a man who was leaving her for another woman, Lamour isolates herself in her Chicago apartment dreaming of better days when she was the beloved daughter of famed novelist, Jon-Boy Harrington. To pull herself out of her deepening depression, she visits Amalfi and tries to recapture the soul of the happy child she once was and uncover the mystery surrounding her father's death.

Lorenzo Pirato is the dashing owner of the estate on which Jon-Boy's home can be found. Though she instantly dislikes him, she is charmed by his son Nico and begins a flirtatious association with him. Is this going to be another case of a woman falling for both father and son? Will Lorenzo's beautiful daughter Aurora drive Lamour from her home? Can her faithful friend Mifune help her discover what is truly important? Will a red chiffon dress and a beautiful Contessa give her the answers she seeks? Will we ever learn the name of Jammy's `college kid'?

For charming characters, unmatched descriptions of the beauty of Italy, and comic scenes involving chickens, this is a delightful escape into romance and travel.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars transported to another place by the magic of Ms. Adler, July 27, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House in Amalfi (Hardcover)

In Chicago, though two years have passed since her beloved husband Alex died in a car crash, Lamour Harrington still mourns her loss. Lamour sees the irony that he was the second man in her life to die in a tragic accident as her father Jonathon was killed in a boating incident off Italy's Amalfi coast. To survive she buries herself in her work as a landscape architect, but refuses to allow anyone even a dog or cat into her life because loved ones die. Only her childhood friend Jammy Mortimer pushes Lamour to join the living; her spouse Matt coaxes Jammy to tell the total truth to Lamour about Alex.

Already thinking of returning to the place she was happiest, Amalfi, Jammy's revelation is the final impetus to get her to move. Lamour travels to Italy to learn what led to her beloved artistic father's death and to recapture the magical happiness that has left her bereft. The truth may be freeing, but in spite of meeting Lorenzo Pirata and his adult son, Lamour is unsure that she wants to know the secrets of her heart and that of the HOUSE IN AMALFI.

Whether it is Tuscany, Province or now Amalfi no one serves as a better tour guide of Mediterranean Europe than Elizabeth Adler is. Readers feel they are seeing lush gardens, sharing wine or eating pizza in a remote village cafe as she paints a fabulous landscape. The characters are fully developed with Lamour severing as a terrific focus to the Amalfi tour while the support cast either provides insight into her or into the locale. Once again readers will be transported to another place by the magic of Ms. Adler.

Harriet Klausner