{"product_id":"scarpia-by-piers-paul-read","title":"Scarpia by Piers Paul Read","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Piers Paul Read is one of England's most accomplished novelists, and \u003ci\u003eScarpia\u003c\/i\u003e is among his finest novels.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is the late eighteenth century and Sicilian nobleman Vitellio Scarpia finds himself penniless and in disgrace on the streets of Rome. After leaving his home in pursuit of a military career, his fiery passion has seen him expelled from the Spanish royal guard and left to seek his fortune in Italy; a fortune inseparably bound to the Pope, whose rule is put in question by the French Revolution. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Scarpia enrolls in the papal army and is soon taken up by a countess eager to have a handsome young officer at her side. She introduces Scarpia into Roman society, and he is both enthralled and agitated by its mix of religiosity, sophistication, decadence, and intrigue. Then, on a mission to Venice, he meets the gifted, beautiful singer Floria Tosca. And as the armies of revolutionary France advance into Italy, and war and revolution engulf the whole peninsula, these two lives become entwined. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Steeped in factual detail and exploring the lives--part historical, part fictional--of figures from Puccini's famous opera \u003ci\u003eTosca\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eScarpia \u003c\/i\u003eshines a light into dusty corridors of history and dark corners of the human soul.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43016151269439,"sku":null,"price":17.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0647\/8626\/8223\/files\/16785873482689.jpg?v=1773745523","url":"https:\/\/bookconnection.com.au\/products\/scarpia-by-piers-paul-read","provider":"The Book Connection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}