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Content levels
ViolenceNone
Sexual contentModerate
LanguageModerate
Trigger warnings
Not yet taggedPositive tags
Heartwarminghopeful endingSecond ChanceSelf-Discovery
Tropes
Fish out of WaterForbidden LoveHistorical RomanceSecond ChanceStar-Crossed LoversStrangers to LoversWorking Together
Themes
Art and CreativityDreams vs RealityFate and ChanceLost LoveLove & RedemptionThe Past's Hold on the PresentTime and Memory
Synopsis
From the moment it opens—on a rocky patch of Italian coastline, circa 1962, when a daydreaming young innkeeper looks out over the water and spies a mysterious woman approaching him on a boat—Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to the back lots of contemporary Hollywood, Beautiful Ruins is gloriously inventive and constantly surprising—a story of flawed yet fascinating people navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.
Tags
Hollywood RomanceLiterary FictionTime-Slip Narrative