Amazon.com description: Product Description: Vincentio di Vivaldi and Elena di Rosalba are in love -- and his noble mother, the cruel Marchesa, doesn't like it at all. She's set Schedoni -- a monk, and an evil one -- to put a stop to their affair. It is a beautiful and compelling tale, the story of young lovers committed to their love no matter what horrors and hardship threaten, lovers who care nothing for the difference in their social stations, only for one another. _The Italian_ is a story of love and treachery -- a story that touches on the horrific Inquisition.