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Zanzara
She was born in disgrace, raised in squalor, doomed to the rough existence of a peasant...
...Until her beauty and her innocence draw her into a wildly exciting life of romance, glamour, and wealth, a world she isn't prepared for, a glittering nightmare of intrigue, treachery, lust, and murder!
Her survival, now, amoung the rich and titled, will depend on her raw instincts and her ability to fight against ruthless ambitions and strange desires.
Will she become the princess, as in her childhood dreams, or must she run from it all, into the arms of the only man who can save her?
...Until her beauty and her innocence draw her into a wildly exciting life of romance, glamour, and wealth, a world she isn't prepared for, a glittering nightmare of intrigue, treachery, lust, and murder!
Her survival, now, amoung the rich and titled, will depend on her raw instincts and her ability to fight against ruthless ambitions and strange desires.
Will she become the princess, as in her childhood dreams, or must she run from it all, into the arms of the only man who can save her?
659 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Gloria Vitanza Basile
14 books3 followersBeloved mother of Louis Basile of Tahoe City, California and grandmother to Tony, Jordan, Michele and McKayla Basile. Born in Westfield, New York, Gloria was raised in Jamestown, New Jersey. She moved her family to San Jose, California where she owned and operated several women's apparel shops and bridal salons. Having moved to Beverly Hills, California, she owned and operated a bridal salon before pursuing a career in acting and writing.
Gloria authored 13 best selling novels and wrote a song entitled "Ballad of One Eyed Jacks" for a motion picture, "One Eyed Jacks", starring Marlon Brando. Gloria was a member of the American Authors Guild and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. A few of her outstanding novels were "The Godson", "The Manipulators Trilogy" and "Global 2000 Trilogy". She is listed in the library of congress in Washington D.C. as a contemporary author.
Gloria was preceded in death by her parents Alphonso and Josephine Vitanza of Jamestown, New York and her sisters Frances Macharella and Rosiland Schiros of San Jose, California.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on Oct. 12, 2004 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/merc...
Gloria authored 13 best selling novels and wrote a song entitled "Ballad of One Eyed Jacks" for a motion picture, "One Eyed Jacks", starring Marlon Brando. Gloria was a member of the American Authors Guild and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. A few of her outstanding novels were "The Godson", "The Manipulators Trilogy" and "Global 2000 Trilogy". She is listed in the library of congress in Washington D.C. as a contemporary author.
Gloria was preceded in death by her parents Alphonso and Josephine Vitanza of Jamestown, New York and her sisters Frances Macharella and Rosiland Schiros of San Jose, California.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on Oct. 12, 2004 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/merc...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 25, 2017
So...ZANZARA. :P
This was an exhausting book, & I was completely enthralled. Oh, it's got flaws. It lumbers, lurches, & lolz. But it was an awesome example of hardcore bodice shredding sagas, & easily the most brutal ripper I've read since that towering powerhouse o' insanity called Dynasty of Desire.
Friends, I don't invoke DoD lightly. Such a reference serves as earnest warning. ZANZARA isn't for the faint of heart, running a gauntlet from grotty childhood to bizarre gothic flourishes, from war-torn violence to sexual slavery.
The underlying premise features our heroine, Phaedra, who discovers she's the bastard daughter of some dead Sicilian prince. Her extended family plucks her from an abusive orphanage & sets her on the road to wealth & prestige, complete with HEA Prince Charming...but said money, happiness, & lover are snatched away by her greedy asshat of an uncle. Phaedra manages to escape, but the resulting trauma resurrects her alternate personality from childhood -- Zanzara, a bitchy, manipulative cocktease -- and sets her onto further perilous adventures.
It's 650 pages of WTF, including (but not limited to):
Rape, rape, & more rape
Town bicycle heroine
Adultery
Abortion
Intestinal spillage
Hookahs
Prostitution
Dildos
Anal
Aphrodisiacs
Comical adjective-laden curses
Long separations
Ped0bear
Implied bestiality & necro
Slavery
Secret tunnels & hidden rooms
Castration
Man-rape
Orgies
Incest
Evil prison wardens
Prophetic visions
Multiple personality disorder
Child abuse
Belly dancing
Missing interitances & jewel hoards
Dramatic returns from the dead
Giant wangs
Also, the Sicilian mafia makes an appearance. And there's a golden statue of Zeus.
...Yeah.
It's quite a feat of imagination, really -- never have I read a ripper where the heroine has 2 possible fathers, both of whom are sexually attracted to her. *amused* Such batshit crazies are made all the more entertaining because the background fulcrum of the plot (i.e., Sicily's break from French rule) is Fact(tm), so there's a bit o' learning that snagged this reader's attention. But never fear; historical stricture rarely intrudes. The heart of ZANZARA is an OTT overload of bodice-shredding bullshit, with nary a chaperone or social nicety to be found.
And I loved it. :D
I probably shouldn't give this 5 stars. The editing is terrible (because Pinnacle) & the author's grasp of commas can be sketchy. The story lurches between copious flashbacks & delayed explanations & side characters' backstories. But for all that, it's highly addictive. The characters are vivid, albeit a touch cartoony, & the whackadoodle plotting was truly impressive; out of this entire brick, I was impatient with only 3 chapters, one of which was the opener. The dialogue is by turns oddly old-fashioned, endearingly modern, & utterly ludicrous (esp during sex, muahaha :D). I daresay this book is as schizo as Phaedra herself.
But yes...5 stars for sheer enjoyment. :)
This was an exhausting book, & I was completely enthralled. Oh, it's got flaws. It lumbers, lurches, & lolz. But it was an awesome example of hardcore bodice shredding sagas, & easily the most brutal ripper I've read since that towering powerhouse o' insanity called Dynasty of Desire.
Friends, I don't invoke DoD lightly. Such a reference serves as earnest warning. ZANZARA isn't for the faint of heart, running a gauntlet from grotty childhood to bizarre gothic flourishes, from war-torn violence to sexual slavery.
The underlying premise features our heroine, Phaedra, who discovers she's the bastard daughter of some dead Sicilian prince. Her extended family plucks her from an abusive orphanage & sets her on the road to wealth & prestige, complete with HEA Prince Charming...but said money, happiness, & lover are snatched away by her greedy asshat of an uncle. Phaedra manages to escape, but the resulting trauma resurrects her alternate personality from childhood -- Zanzara, a bitchy, manipulative cocktease -- and sets her onto further perilous adventures.
It's 650 pages of WTF, including (but not limited to):
Rape, rape, & more rape
Town bicycle heroine
Adultery
Abortion
Intestinal spillage
Hookahs
Prostitution
Dildos
Anal
Aphrodisiacs
Comical adjective-laden curses
Long separations
Ped0bear
Implied bestiality & necro
Slavery
Secret tunnels & hidden rooms
Castration
Man-rape
Orgies
Incest
Evil prison wardens
Prophetic visions
Multiple personality disorder
Child abuse
Belly dancing
Missing interitances & jewel hoards
Dramatic returns from the dead
Giant wangs
Also, the Sicilian mafia makes an appearance. And there's a golden statue of Zeus.
...Yeah.
It's quite a feat of imagination, really -- never have I read a ripper where the heroine has 2 possible fathers, both of whom are sexually attracted to her. *amused* Such batshit crazies are made all the more entertaining because the background fulcrum of the plot (i.e., Sicily's break from French rule) is Fact(tm), so there's a bit o' learning that snagged this reader's attention. But never fear; historical stricture rarely intrudes. The heart of ZANZARA is an OTT overload of bodice-shredding bullshit, with nary a chaperone or social nicety to be found.
And I loved it. :D
I probably shouldn't give this 5 stars. The editing is terrible (because Pinnacle) & the author's grasp of commas can be sketchy. The story lurches between copious flashbacks & delayed explanations & side characters' backstories. But for all that, it's highly addictive. The characters are vivid, albeit a touch cartoony, & the whackadoodle plotting was truly impressive; out of this entire brick, I was impatient with only 3 chapters, one of which was the opener. The dialogue is by turns oddly old-fashioned, endearingly modern, & utterly ludicrous (esp during sex, muahaha :D). I daresay this book is as schizo as Phaedra herself.
But yes...5 stars for sheer enjoyment. :)
January 3, 2024
Born in poverty and raised in a squalid orphanage, Phaedra’s life transforms completely when her identity as a prince’s illegitimate daughter is revealed, vaunting her into the lap of luxury. But she has a long, tough path to tread still before she will reach her happy ending.
I really, really love the crazy bloody bodice rippers of the 1970s and 80s. They are always wild and adventurous, often with a strong historical grounding, and take you careening through the kind of heroine’s journey that leave you with a skull-splitting book hangover. So when I saw a reviewer describe Zanzara as 650 pages of WTF, of course I ran full steam ahead in its direction.
Reader, that reviewer was right. Crammed into this yellowing tome are a heroine with a split personality, a stolen fortune, 19th-century Sicilian geopolitics, an erotic education obtained in a brothel, slavery, bellydancing, and more. Though we start off a little slowly, I was soon completely absorbed in Phaedra’s trials and tribulations. The characters somehow manage to be almost vividly cartoonish yet completely sympathetic.
The structure of the book is a little odd though, throwing us back and forth in time with copious flashbacks and detours into the backstories of many a side character. All that back and forth made me lose momentum more than once, which is a frustrating thing in such a dense book. Also, the editing leaves something to be desired, considering the number of misspellings that made it to print – and this coming from a notoriously bad speller like me!
I really, really love the crazy bloody bodice rippers of the 1970s and 80s. They are always wild and adventurous, often with a strong historical grounding, and take you careening through the kind of heroine’s journey that leave you with a skull-splitting book hangover. So when I saw a reviewer describe Zanzara as 650 pages of WTF, of course I ran full steam ahead in its direction.
Reader, that reviewer was right. Crammed into this yellowing tome are a heroine with a split personality, a stolen fortune, 19th-century Sicilian geopolitics, an erotic education obtained in a brothel, slavery, bellydancing, and more. Though we start off a little slowly, I was soon completely absorbed in Phaedra’s trials and tribulations. The characters somehow manage to be almost vividly cartoonish yet completely sympathetic.
The structure of the book is a little odd though, throwing us back and forth in time with copious flashbacks and detours into the backstories of many a side character. All that back and forth made me lose momentum more than once, which is a frustrating thing in such a dense book. Also, the editing leaves something to be desired, considering the number of misspellings that made it to print – and this coming from a notoriously bad speller like me!
May 8, 2021
4 stars? story was fantastic - while trudging through the politics and heavy details was painful.
August 7, 2025
The worst book I have ever had the misfortune of reading and it left a bad taste in my mouth for a long time after I managed to finish it. It was like getting a glimpse into the mind of a psychopath instead of reading about a love story,sorry not my cup of tea AT ALL :(
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews