Two Women Set Out Across Europe in Search of a Dead Queen The medieval queen in question is Constance of Hauteville, daughter of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily, wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and mother to the Emperor Frederick II. In 1194, at the age of forty, Constance journeyed from Germany south to reconquer her father's throne. On the way she discovered that she was pregnant for the first time. She decided to give birth in public so that the world would know the child was truly hers. These intriguing facts, and very few others, are all we know directly of Constance's life. Seventeen years ago, Mary Taylor Simeti promised in On Persephone's Island--her now-classic memoir of an American in Sicily--that she would someday tell the story of Constance (who was, like her, an expatriate and the mother of a bicultural family). In Travels with a Medieval Queen, Simeti keeps her promise: retracing Constance's route from Germany to Sicily, contrasting the exotic setting of Constance's childhood in Palermo with that of her married life in the north, and drawing on reading in contiguous fields to flesh out a spare legacy of historical facts. This is the beautifully illustrated chronicle of Simeti's twentieth-century travels, first in books, then on the road, as she searches the landscapes and the monuments that survive from the twelfth century for clues to the inner life of a mother who was also a monarch.

Travels with a Medieval Queen

History

SIMETI, MARY TAYLOR

Europe

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

An American woman residing in Sicily for the past twenty years portrays the Sicilian landscape and customs--both rural and urban--from the perspectives of both a "foreigner" and a resident

On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal

Alfred.A. Knopf

A celebration of Sicilian food describes the history of the island's cuisine, from antiquity to the present, and provides a selection of one hundred recipes

Pomp And Sustenance: Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food

Children's Books

Bitter Almonds is the true story of a woman's extraordinary courage, and a gift from the past of an almost-lost tradition. At the heart of the book are forty-six recipes, written down for the first time, of unique Sicilian specialties.

Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood

Grammatico, Maria

Biographies & Memoirs

Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of

A fascinating excursion into the Sicily of myth and everyday reality, On Persephone's Island is an unforgettable portrait of this ancient land.

On Persephone's Island A Sicilian Journal

Travel

VIKING

An American woman residing in Sicily for the past twenty years portrays the Sicilian landscape and customs—both rural and urban—from the perspectives of both a “foreigner” and a resident.

Historical

Vintage

Memoirs of a Sicilian woman's childhood--spent in a harsh convent where she learned to make incredible pastries--are combined with recipes, written down for the first time, for such delectable treats as biscotti, tarts, cakes, marzipan confections. 35,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.

Bitter Almonds: Recollections & Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Baking

William Morrow & Co.

Two Women Set Out Across Europe in Search of a Dead QueenThe medieval queen in question is Constance of Hauteville, daughter of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily, wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and mother to the Emperor Frederick II.  In 1194, at the age of forty, Constance journeyed from Germany south to reconquer her father's throne.  On the way she discovered that she was pregnant for the first time.  She decided to give birth in public so that the world would know the child was truly hers.  These intriguing facts, and very few others, are all we know directly of Constance's life.Seventeen years ago, Mary Taylor Simeti promised in On Persephone's Island--her now-classic memoir of an American in Sicily--that she would someday tell the story of Constance (who was, like her, an expatriate and the mother of a bicultural family).  In Travels with a Medieval Queen, Simeti keeps her promise: retracing Constance's route from Germany to Sicily, contrasting the exotic setting of Constance's childhood in Palermo with that of her married life in the north, and drawing on reading in contiguous fields to flesh out a spare legacy of historical facts. This is the beautifully illustrated chronicle of Simeti's twentieth-century travels, first in books, then on the road, as she searches the landscapes and the monuments that survive from the twelfth century for clues to the inner life of a mother who was also a monarch.

Travels With a Medieval Queen

Diane Pub Co.

Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food

Cooking Education & Reference

Henry Holt Co.

An American woman residing in Sicily for the past twenty years portrays the Sicilian landscape and customs--both rural and urban--from the perspectives of both a "foreigner" and a resident.

North Point Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by SIMETI, MARY TAYLOR. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by SIMETI, MARY TAYLOR

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by SIMETI, MARY TAYLOR. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Travels with a Medieval Queen

On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal

Pomp And Sustenance: Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food

Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood

On Persephone's Island A Sicilian Journal

On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal

Bitter Almonds: Recollections & Recipes from a Sicilian Girlhood

Travels With a Medieval Queen

Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food

On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal