Allison Levy, the Library’s Digital Scholarship Editor and Visiting Scholar in Italian Studies at Brown, is the author of a new book, House of Secrets: The Many Lives of a Florentine Palazzo (Bloomsbury, 2019), currently being promoted through the U.S. and abroad.
The book has been well received by critics and readers. Historian Ingrid Rowland describes it as “an enthralling tour through an extraordinary Florentine palazzo, complete with romance, murder, lives of the rich and famous, and layer upon layer of history ranging from the heart of the Renaissance to yesterday. A scholarly thriller that is virtually impossible to put down.”
Allison Levy
An art historian educated at Bryn Mawr College, Allison tells the remarkable story of Palazzo Rucellai from behind its celebrated façade in House of Secrets. While staying in Florence during a teaching sabbatical, Allison had the opportunity to live in Palazzo Rucellai and learn about its history firsthand, becoming inspired to tell the stories of the real life characters who have populated the house and bring its history to life.
Upcoming tour events:
- Seattle: University of Washington Bookstore
- New Orleans: Garden District Bookstore
- Boston: Boston Public Library
- Detroit: Pages Bookshop
- Newport: Redwood Library and Athenaeum
- Providence: Books on the Square
- Washington, DC: Kramer Books
Completed tour events:
- London: Daunt Books
- Florence: Todo Modo Bookstore
- NYC: Casa Italiana-NYU (video)
- Providence: Brown University Library (video)
- Providence: Providence Athenaeum (audio)
2020
Next year, Allison will visit China to promote the book, after its translation into Chinese this year. The English paperback edition of House of Secrets will be published April 2020.