The Promise

Book excerpt: 'I know this is my final leaving because it's so different from my many other leavings. This time, I actually want Paolo to find someone else-perhaps a lovely Florentine girl who he can marry, someone who will make him happy by giving him children and a family of his own. He deserves it after waiting for more than a decade for me to make up my mind...' Lisa Clifford was sixteen when she arrived in Florence for the first time, keen to experience life beyond her Australian convent-school and work out what she wanted to do with her future. Falling in love with a local called Paolo was not part of the plan... The Promise is the story of Lisa's love affair with Paolo, and of her love for Florence and the Tuscan mountains-the landscapes, the people and the food. But far from settling into a contented life in Italy, Lisa soon realised that being an independent and ambitious Australian girl made it difficult to fit in with the age-old traditions of an Italian family. She was torn between her desire to stay with Paolo, and her need to return home-to her family, to the relaxed Australian way of a life, and to a career. Should she stay, or should she go? Written with humour and passion, The Promise is about loss and heartache and growing up. Above all, it is a story that proves love does find a way-and that some promises are made to be broken.