The World Before Her

"The parallel story of a sculptor named Caroline Spingold takes us to Venice one hundred years later, in 1980. Caroline's powerful, wealthy older husband has brought her to the city against her will, to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary Having spent a perfect childhood summer in Venice with her parents, before her father left her mother, Caroline had vowed never to return." "In alternating chapters linked by the themes of art, love, and marriage, The World Before Her tells of these two women - and their surprising similarities. In a city where the canals reflect memory as much as light, they both confront desire, and each assesses what she has and who she is. At the heart of this sumptuously and evocatively written novel lies the eternal dilemma of how to find love and sustain it, without losing one's self."--BOOK JACKET.