Debbie Harpham
ABOUT:
What if you found yourself in the middle of a war armed only with lipstick and a sense of humor? Abandoned as a child in Los Angeles in 1931, dust bowl refugee Sally Brady convinces a Hollywood movie star to adopt her, and grows up to be an effervescent gossip columnist secretly satirizing Europe’s upper crust. By 1940 saucy Sally is conquering Fascist-era Rome with cheek and charm.
A good deed leaves Sally stranded in wartime Italy, brandishing a biting wit, a fake passport, and an elastic sense of right and wrong. To save her friends and find her way home through a land of besieged castles and villas, Sally must combat tragedy with comedy, tie up pompous bureaucrats in their own red tape, force the cruel to be kind, and unravel the mystery, weight, and meaning of family.
Heir to Odysseus’s wiles and Candide’s optimism, Sally Brady is a heroine for the 21st century.
PRAISE AND RECOGNITION:
“A gorgeously entertaining story about a spirited woman during wartime that manages to be a clever caper at times but taut and profound at others, while always richly evocative of the charms and contradictions of Italy. Brava!”—Chris Pavone, New York Times #1 bestselling author of The Expats and Two Nights in Lisbon
“As a novelist, Christina Lynch has real moxie and pluck. Her Italian Adventure is packed with gusto, wit, and a compelling pace that starts at a full trot and only picks up speed.”—Conan O’Brien
“Equally funny and heartbreaking, Christina Lynch’s impeccably researched historical novel opens with popping corks and gossipy fun, and develops into a harrowing portrait of a dark political era that holds a mirror up to our own. Populated with unforgettable characters and wise-cracking dialogue, entertaining to the very last page, and as full of joy, pathos, and beauty as Italy itself, SALLY BRADY is a multi-tonal masterpiece.”—Andromeda Romano-Lax, author of The Spanish Bow, Annie and the Wolves
“From the dusty corn fields of Iowa to the palm-tree lined streets of Hollywood, from lavish fetes in Tuscan gardens to chic ski weekends in Swiss chalets, Lynch’s novel takes her young protagonist Sally—and her readers –on a wild coming-of age ride set against the backdrop of WWII. It’s an ambitious, rags-to-riches fantasy with a delicious melange of movie stars, countesses, artists, farmers, gossip columnists, maids, soldiers, dictators and other colorful characters at every turn. I loved it!”—Glynis Costin, Writer and former Editor at In Style, Los Angeles Magazine, former Milan Bureau Chief of W and WWD.
“Sally Brady is my kind of heroine. She loves good wine and knows her olive oils. She can’t resist the smell of fresh-baked bread or a plate of cacio e pepe. It was a pleasure to see Italy and my paesani through her keen eyes. Brava, Sally!!”—Cesare Casella, Italian chef and author of Diary of a Tuscan Chef, True Tuscan, and the James Beard Award-nominated The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Italian Cuisine.
Glamor, romance, humor and peril combine to make the zippy Sally Brady’s Italian Adventure a novel that will tickle you pink. Go pink! —Diane Leslie – Diesel Bookstore
Sally Brady is a sassy, funny, adventurous American waif turned high-society gossip columnist who finds herself in the best of places—Italy—at the worst possible time, under Mussolini’s fascist boot. Christina Lynch takes us on a brilliant journey to where Bridgerton meets Italo Calvino, as Sally comes to terms with her fast-changing fortunes—and, ultimately, herself. —Peter Gumbel, award-winning author of Citizens of Everywhere
“In 1931, eleven-year-old Sally Brady’s impoverished Iowa family ships her off to make her way in the world, and boy does she oblige. The next seventeen years take Sally from Hollywood, where she is (sort of, not really) adopted by a film star, to the playgrounds of pre-war Europe, where she secretly pens a gossip column chronicling elite shenanigans, to wartime Siena, where she is (sort of, not really) under house arrest with American journalists, to the Tuscan hillsides, where she cleverly aids the Italian resistance.
Sally Brady has no home or family to speak of. (“Home” is the nickname she gives her steamer trunk). Yet again and again, when it really matters, Sally Brady proves exactly who she is and what she’s made of. From now on, when things go south, I’ll think “WWSD?” (What Would Sally Do?) and take my inspiration from this witty, gritty, outrageous and courageous heroine.”—Virginia Hume, Author of Haven Point
AUTHOR VISITS:
Author visits with Christina Lynch are available via NovelNetwork.com.