Stealing Beauty

by Shirley Lowe

Grieving the death of her mother, 19 year old Lucy Harmon is sent by her father to stay with friends at their home in Tuscany. Lucy has her own reasons for agreeing to travel to the Villa Grayson: Niccolo Donati captured her heart four years ago, her first love, a memory she has cherished even though the letters have stopped coming, she would dearly love to see him again. And she wishes to solve the riddle found in her mother's diary - Sara was a free spirit eager for all kinds of experience and shy of responsibility and her record of times past casts a shadow that hasn't faded. Lucy's nubile presence stirs up the torpid Italian summer lives of all those at the villa. Only the dying and old remember the passion and pain of youth with sensitivity equal to Lucy's. By the time she solves her own riddles, the lives of those who summer at the Villa Grayson will never be quite the same again.

Genres: Fiction

184 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

One of my favorite movies, so poetic! I think Liv was the utmost of beauty in that role.

[Snowleesi · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Stealing Beauty" is my favorite movie of all time and it has been for 20 years since it was released. I was absolutely amazed at finding out that there was a novelization of the script available and of course purchased it immediatelly. The novel is really thin, yet nonetheless adding a lot of detail and personal history to the characters you might love from the movie. Ultimately, though, it seems to be based on an earlier version of the script and has many additional or expanded scenes. Ultimately,nit's an interesting read for fans of the movie, but not meaty enough to build a full-fledged novel.

[Bloodorange · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant fluff, fleshing out the movie.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

"Grieving the death of her mother,19 year old Lucy Harmon is sent by her father to stay with friends at their home in Tuscany.Lucy has her own reasons for agreeing to travel to the Villa Grayson:Niccolo Donati captured her heart four years ago,her first love,a memory she has cherished even though the letters have stopped coming,she would dearly love to see him again.And she wishes to solve the riddle found in her mother's diary-Sara was a free spirit eager for all kinds of experience and shy of responsibility and her record of times past casts a shadow that hasn't faded.Lucy's nubile presence stirs up the torpid Italian summer lives of all those at the villa.Only the dying and old remember the passion and pain of youth with sensitivity equal to Lucy's.By the time she solves her own riddles,the lives of those who summer at the Villa Grayson will never be quite the same again." (From Amazon)

A bit of a sexual coming to age story. Lucy goes to Italy to visit her mother's friends and discovers more about who her mother was and about her own sexuality. The book was well-written. The movie is excellently led by Live Tyler and Jeremy Irons.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book three stars, mainly I think because I love the movie so much and reading this book (which is based on the movie, not the other way around) was like reliving it. That's really all there is to say about this book. It's a nice read, but the movie is naturally better. There were some small changes that the author made that I didn't mind, but the ending of the book was slightly different than in the movie and in that case I did prefer the movie.

[Erika Hope Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of a few books that has been made into a really beautiful movie as well. Another would be Dr. Zhivago. It also has an eclectic soundtrack. You have to be in the mood for one of those YA coming of age themes. In the movie Liv Tyler and Jeremy Irons are compelling in an almost creepy way.

[Tara Ooi-balan · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are into the la la land thoughts of youth, self sexual discovery and search for meaning of life etc...if not, at least you can read about artsy people living in the country and wishing, if only i had their free time.

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't get into it.