A very corny old word comes to me about this beautiful story .. sublime. Poetic without excess, the lovely girl he falls for is all he says she's is. And the difficult pangs of love in the exquisite seeing is heavenly .. the forward is very informative and I valued that tremendously in stunning further appreciation for this lyrical story in prose of lost love. The evocation of Italy is perfect .. Ischia had never been as totally pleasant as this. Lamartine was a great poet and this enchanting story (sorry again for corny old word) which we are told was bestseller in its day..was gripping for me too