Florence

Florence has for centuries attracted writers, bewitched by the beauty of its surroundings, the quality of its light, and the treasures it houses in its palaces, churches and museums. These literati have also attracted one another - Florence has long been the centre of a colourful expatriate community comprising writers as various as Walter Savage Landor, the eccentric Ouida, Dostoevsky, Norman Douglas and the Sitwells. The author lived there for a while, and here he paints a portrait of that world, rife with feuds and rivalries, impermanent but never dull. And he distils the comments of its literary denizens to guide us around the city itself, to point out where they lived and what they made of it, and to evoke its churches and cafes, villas and gardens.