Dramas & Plays
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Lizzie & Dante: A Novel
The insightful, audacious, and deeply romantic story of a woman whose life turns upside down after she meets an enigmatic chef on vacation in Italy, from a New York Times bestselling author
"Delicious."-People • "Smart, sexy and funny, full of joy in simple pleasures."-Minneapolis Star-Tribune
What if falling in love means breaking someone's heart?
On the heels of a difficult break-up and a devastating diagnosis, Shakespeare scholar Lizzie Delford decides to take one last lavish vacation on Elba, the sun-kissed island off the Italian coast, with her best friend and his movie-star boyfriend. Once settled into a luxurious seaside resort, Lizzie has to make big decisions about her future, and she needs the one thing she may be running out of: time.
She leaves the yacht owners and celebrities behind and sneaks off to the public beach, where she meets a sardonic chef named Dante, his battered dog, Lulu, and his wry daughter, Etta, a twelve-year-old desperate for a mother. While Dante shows Lizzie the island's secrets, and Etta dazzles with her irreverent humor, Lizzie is confronted with a dilemma. Is it right to fall in love if time is short? Is it better to find a mother briefly, or to have no mother at all? And most pressingly, are the delicacies of life worth tasting, even if you will get to savor them only for a short while?
A luscious story of love, courage, and Italian wine, Lizzie & Dante demands to know how far we should travel to find a future worth fighting for.
"Delicious."-People • "Smart, sexy and funny, full of joy in simple pleasures."-Minneapolis Star-Tribune
What if falling in love means breaking someone's heart?
On the heels of a difficult break-up and a devastating diagnosis, Shakespeare scholar Lizzie Delford decides to take one last lavish vacation on Elba, the sun-kissed island off the Italian coast, with her best friend and his movie-star boyfriend. Once settled into a luxurious seaside resort, Lizzie has to make big decisions about her future, and she needs the one thing she may be running out of: time.
She leaves the yacht owners and celebrities behind and sneaks off to the public beach, where she meets a sardonic chef named Dante, his battered dog, Lulu, and his wry daughter, Etta, a twelve-year-old desperate for a mother. While Dante shows Lizzie the island's secrets, and Etta dazzles with her irreverent humor, Lizzie is confronted with a dilemma. Is it right to fall in love if time is short? Is it better to find a mother briefly, or to have no mother at all? And most pressingly, are the delicacies of life worth tasting, even if you will get to savor them only for a short while?
A luscious story of love, courage, and Italian wine, Lizzie & Dante demands to know how far we should travel to find a future worth fighting for.
Editorial Reviews
"The ultimate fantasy."-E!
"Falling in love with an Italian chef who loves you. Lots of sweet love-making. A 12-year-old who wants a mother desperately. Talk of Shakespeare, James Wright and Romeo and Juliet. A group of people who create a family. Also food and wine and the heat of the Italian sun. All of this comes together in Mary Bly's tender [and] delightful ‘Lizzie & Dante."-St. Paul Pioneer Press
"This is the sweeping magnificent romance of the summer! This book channels Love Story and Me Before You. Set in glorious Italy, Lizzie & Dante is an unforgettable gem!"-Frolic
"I so enjoyed Lizzie and Dante-funny, joyful, bittersweet, full of beautiful lines about what it means to be alive, with a perfect ending. It brought me to tears! It's the ultimate summer read."-#1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline
"Mary Bly has written a glorious novel about the power of love. You will bask under Bly's Italian sun with relish and root for Lizzie, who finds happiness before it's too late. Brava!"-Adriana Trigiani, author of Lucia, Lucia
"Prepare to be swept away on an Italian holiday-one that sizzles with romance, intrigue, and mouthwatering cuisine. Mary Bly captures every woman's fantasy-to travel to a remote Italian island and fall in love. Bella!"-Lori Nelson Spielman, author of One Italian Summer
"I fell in love with Lizzie and Dante-and the whole cast of characters. And Elba. This is such a heartbreakingly beautiful story, full of smiles and tears. I could see and smell Napoleon's little island, taste Dante's food, and hear Lizzie sing. Wow."-Karen White, author of Dreams of Falling
"Lizzie & Dante is a feast of ...
"Falling in love with an Italian chef who loves you. Lots of sweet love-making. A 12-year-old who wants a mother desperately. Talk of Shakespeare, James Wright and Romeo and Juliet. A group of people who create a family. Also food and wine and the heat of the Italian sun. All of this comes together in Mary Bly's tender [and] delightful ‘Lizzie & Dante."-St. Paul Pioneer Press
"This is the sweeping magnificent romance of the summer! This book channels Love Story and Me Before You. Set in glorious Italy, Lizzie & Dante is an unforgettable gem!"-Frolic
"I so enjoyed Lizzie and Dante-funny, joyful, bittersweet, full of beautiful lines about what it means to be alive, with a perfect ending. It brought me to tears! It's the ultimate summer read."-#1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline
"Mary Bly has written a glorious novel about the power of love. You will bask under Bly's Italian sun with relish and root for Lizzie, who finds happiness before it's too late. Brava!"-Adriana Trigiani, author of Lucia, Lucia
"Prepare to be swept away on an Italian holiday-one that sizzles with romance, intrigue, and mouthwatering cuisine. Mary Bly captures every woman's fantasy-to travel to a remote Italian island and fall in love. Bella!"-Lori Nelson Spielman, author of One Italian Summer
"I fell in love with Lizzie and Dante-and the whole cast of characters. And Elba. This is such a heartbreakingly beautiful story, full of smiles and tears. I could see and smell Napoleon's little island, taste Dante's food, and hear Lizzie sing. Wow."-Karen White, author of Dreams of Falling
"Lizzie & Dante is a feast of ...
Readers Top Reviews
CeNiFrances Bardj
In the beginning, the uncertainty of your cancer is scary. Reading this lovely story brought back so many memories for me. Mine is breast cancer. I have several years to get through without before I'm considered in remission. Unlike Lizzie's diagnosis, I have been very fortunate. This being said, I love how she came to a tiny island to let go and instead found so much more. She was written to be an unbeliever, but I didn't get that feeling as I read throughout the story. I loved the characters. Even those with smaller roles. They made this book so much more. Life is very unfair to so many of us, but to make the best of it instead of whining and complaining is our gift to others. Thank you Mary Bly for giving me and others this story. It will definitely be read and re-read by me through out my years. Worth your time.
Kindle CeNiFranc
I'm writing this while bawling my eyes out. This is such a perfect book. There is such sweetness and love mixed with sorrow and pain. I have been filled with joy and laughter and had deep, wrenching sobs pulled out of me. I am so glad that I read this story. Most highly recommended.
Elizabeth L. Boye
Some books are unputdownable. This is one. Some books leave you in tears. This is one. Some books will live in your heart. This is one. Thank you Mary Bly/Eloisa James.
CPMElizabeth L. B
This is the first book Ms. Bly has written under her own name. It is nothing like her historical romances. It is raw, hopeful, gritty, funny, emotional and sad. The characters are all so well written and believable. You know them. You see them evolve and become honest with themselves over a life changing visit to Elba. I don’t want to give much away but will say if cancer is an emotional trigger for you, this may not be for you. If you want a richly written story that makes you look at yourself and how you might act in the same circumstances, then you will love “Lizzie and Dante.”
Becket Hampton Wa
I have always, since I first learned it, adored the fact that my favorite author of steamy romances is also a lauded professor at Fordham. I was told repeatedly while pursuing my graduate degree in English at the University of Kansas that popular fiction and scholarship could not, did not spring from the same minds or even occupy the same stratosphere. One professor informed me that I “could not call myself a feminist if [I] read bodice-ripping trash.” I do, and I do. This novel is beautifully, achingly written. I loved every page. As I have lived with crippling chronic disease for most of my adult life, I saw myself in the titular character of Lizzie; I wept with her, cheered for her, was glad of her. As an erstwhile English teacher, I also enjoyed the insights on Romeo and Juliet (three Oscars! Yes!). I hope Mary Bly continues to write under her own name as well as her wonderful alter-ego, Eloisa James, whose entire canon I own and reread with relish.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One
JULY 13, 2019
Water sliced past the boat in a froth of deep blue and grey, the kind of froth that made you think about pollutants. Off in the distance, the island of Elba was a dim green mound.
Elba isn't known for much. It produces a perfume called Acqua dell'Elba that smells of white flowers and the sea. It's regularly visited by yachts the size of the Titanic. But mostly, it's the island where Napoleon was exiled with a throwaway title, Emperor of Elba.
Lizzie Rose Delford was headed to Elba because of Napoleon's whining comment, Able was I, ere I saw Elba.
It had a dark humor that worked for Lizzie. A stupid little sentence, although the English professor in her noted that "Able was I" was an aphorism and a factoid, as well as a palindrome. Symmetrical, beautiful, and meaningful in its own dark way. To Lizzie: perfect.
Not that any woman with Stage Three cancer could call herself "able."
An arm abruptly wrapped around her shoulders. "Rohan sent me up to see if we're about to capsize."
The boat was pitching in a strong wind. Lizzie rubbed her head against Grey's chest. "We're fine."
"Is that Elba?"
Lizzie nodded. "Should Rohan know? Would he want to come up?"
"No. He's down in the cabin pretending to be nauseated so he can do the Times crossword in peace." Grey drew her closer, tucked her into the crook of his arm. "Remember that time when we almost capsized on the way to Lesvos?"
Lizzie leaned against him, loving the lean strength of his body and the Georgia drawl he'd never managed to get rid of, though he complained that there was nothing more out of place than a southern man living in L.A. "I dreamed about it for years after," she admitted.
He opened his mouth and shut it. Probably about to tell her, again, that she should confront her demons, before he thought better of it. Screw her demons.
Elba grew larger in a lumpy sort of way, and German tourists standing in the helm took numerous pictures with their cellphones. The water turned clear turquoise closer to the shore, little whitecaps glinting like sparklers.
Stores lined the harbor, and above them, smoky pink and saffron buildings sprawled on rounded hills.
"The town looks so accidental," Lizzie said, liking the way the houses piled on top of each other and spilled down narrow streets.
"Italians don't do city planners," Grey said.
A half hour later, Lizzie humped her suitcase down the narrow metal stairs and got herself out of the belly of their ferry, the Moby-Dick. Once on shore, she stopped.
The pitted cement at her feet was so hot that it seemed to undulate. The air even smelled hot, like brilliant sunlight turned corporeal. Close up, the saffron buildings were cheerfully yellow and orange, and looked even more disordered.
Italians streamed by her, chattering loudly, their tickets littering the ground like confetti. Perhaps they had come over for the day, since they had no luggage.
Someone recognized Rohan. No, a whole group of someones.
He was smiling, likely telling them how much he enjoyed being an Avenger, or an ER doctor, or, since they were middle-aged, lauding the days when he played a feisty kid in a well-meaning gang, he and his buddies roaming around, airing their tats, and accidentally doing good deeds.
Lizzie had watched a few episodes three years ago, after Grey told her he'd met Rohan.
Not, I met a famous actor, or one of People's most beautiful people, but: "I met a man named Rohan." That was enough to get her to watch a couple of Marvel movies, a lot of Diagnosis: Unknown, and a bit of In the Hood.
Grey was striding toward her, brown satchel over one shoulder. It looked like the same satchel he'd had when they wandered around Europe before she went to grad school.
"A coven of fans," he said unnecessarily.
"You can't fall in love with Rohan Das and expect to avoid his fans," Lizzie pointed out.
"I could have fallen in love with an unsuccessful actor."
"True. All those gorgeous failures in L.A. to choose from, and you somehow decided on the ‘most beautiful.' "
"Don't bring it up," Grey said, elbowing her. "He really thought he might get the cover this year."
"Oh, for Christ's sake," Lizzie said, sitting down on her suitcase.
"He's not bad for a Hollywood type."
"I like him," Lizzie said. "I really do."
Grey reached over and tousled her hair. "I really like your curls."
"Here he comes," Lizzie said.
Rohan was striding down the cement toward them. Narrow-hipped and broad-shouldered, he looked taller as a Marvel hero than he ...
JULY 13, 2019
Water sliced past the boat in a froth of deep blue and grey, the kind of froth that made you think about pollutants. Off in the distance, the island of Elba was a dim green mound.
Elba isn't known for much. It produces a perfume called Acqua dell'Elba that smells of white flowers and the sea. It's regularly visited by yachts the size of the Titanic. But mostly, it's the island where Napoleon was exiled with a throwaway title, Emperor of Elba.
Lizzie Rose Delford was headed to Elba because of Napoleon's whining comment, Able was I, ere I saw Elba.
It had a dark humor that worked for Lizzie. A stupid little sentence, although the English professor in her noted that "Able was I" was an aphorism and a factoid, as well as a palindrome. Symmetrical, beautiful, and meaningful in its own dark way. To Lizzie: perfect.
Not that any woman with Stage Three cancer could call herself "able."
An arm abruptly wrapped around her shoulders. "Rohan sent me up to see if we're about to capsize."
The boat was pitching in a strong wind. Lizzie rubbed her head against Grey's chest. "We're fine."
"Is that Elba?"
Lizzie nodded. "Should Rohan know? Would he want to come up?"
"No. He's down in the cabin pretending to be nauseated so he can do the Times crossword in peace." Grey drew her closer, tucked her into the crook of his arm. "Remember that time when we almost capsized on the way to Lesvos?"
Lizzie leaned against him, loving the lean strength of his body and the Georgia drawl he'd never managed to get rid of, though he complained that there was nothing more out of place than a southern man living in L.A. "I dreamed about it for years after," she admitted.
He opened his mouth and shut it. Probably about to tell her, again, that she should confront her demons, before he thought better of it. Screw her demons.
Elba grew larger in a lumpy sort of way, and German tourists standing in the helm took numerous pictures with their cellphones. The water turned clear turquoise closer to the shore, little whitecaps glinting like sparklers.
Stores lined the harbor, and above them, smoky pink and saffron buildings sprawled on rounded hills.
"The town looks so accidental," Lizzie said, liking the way the houses piled on top of each other and spilled down narrow streets.
"Italians don't do city planners," Grey said.
A half hour later, Lizzie humped her suitcase down the narrow metal stairs and got herself out of the belly of their ferry, the Moby-Dick. Once on shore, she stopped.
The pitted cement at her feet was so hot that it seemed to undulate. The air even smelled hot, like brilliant sunlight turned corporeal. Close up, the saffron buildings were cheerfully yellow and orange, and looked even more disordered.
Italians streamed by her, chattering loudly, their tickets littering the ground like confetti. Perhaps they had come over for the day, since they had no luggage.
Someone recognized Rohan. No, a whole group of someones.
He was smiling, likely telling them how much he enjoyed being an Avenger, or an ER doctor, or, since they were middle-aged, lauding the days when he played a feisty kid in a well-meaning gang, he and his buddies roaming around, airing their tats, and accidentally doing good deeds.
Lizzie had watched a few episodes three years ago, after Grey told her he'd met Rohan.
Not, I met a famous actor, or one of People's most beautiful people, but: "I met a man named Rohan." That was enough to get her to watch a couple of Marvel movies, a lot of Diagnosis: Unknown, and a bit of In the Hood.
Grey was striding toward her, brown satchel over one shoulder. It looked like the same satchel he'd had when they wandered around Europe before she went to grad school.
"A coven of fans," he said unnecessarily.
"You can't fall in love with Rohan Das and expect to avoid his fans," Lizzie pointed out.
"I could have fallen in love with an unsuccessful actor."
"True. All those gorgeous failures in L.A. to choose from, and you somehow decided on the ‘most beautiful.' "
"Don't bring it up," Grey said, elbowing her. "He really thought he might get the cover this year."
"Oh, for Christ's sake," Lizzie said, sitting down on her suitcase.
"He's not bad for a Hollywood type."
"I like him," Lizzie said. "I really do."
Grey reached over and tousled her hair. "I really like your curls."
"Here he comes," Lizzie said.
Rohan was striding down the cement toward them. Narrow-hipped and broad-shouldered, he looked taller as a Marvel hero than he ...
