Overview

""A perfect read for the globally curious-the adventurer at heart!"" -Jessica Buchanan, New York Times bestselling author of Impossible Odds "". . . a winning chronicle of the quest for a fully authentic life."" -Dawn Raffel, author of Boundless as the Sky ""A gem of a book that'll have you eagerly turning pages to find out what ultimately survives a world in chaos."" -Charles Salzberg, award-winning writer, three-time Shamus Award nominee, and author of Man on the Run ""[Artley's] story is philosophical and poignant and offers rare insight into the reality of leading an adventuresome lifestyle."" -Donna Keel Armer, author of Solo in Salento: A Memoir (Italian Translation: Un'Americana in Salento) In 2017 Jennifer and her husband Michael relocated to a small town in the north of Italy, immersing themselves in Italian culture and cuisine-passionate about food quality and regional recipes-while making close friendships with an eclectic group of Italians and expats. As the couple involves themselves in local projects and struggles to build their Italian dreamlife, they navigate through the country's notoriously corrupt bureaucracy, leaving them feeling frustrated and powerless. When Michael's venture in Italy collapses, the couple pursues a series of business deals involving everything from premier Italian football clubs and classic Ferraris to Stradivarius violins, leading them on crazy misadventures, encountering outlandish and colorful characters across the peninsula. Out of the blue, a strange new virus spreads like wildfire and Italy is at the epicenter. This prompts one of the strictest lockdowns in world history, and Jennifer and Michael are brought to the brink of personal and financial ruin, culminating in an unexpected twist of fate. Improvising in Italian, narrated with candor and humor, is an honest appraisal of the romance and pitfalls of being a global nomad in a fast-changing world. It follows the couple as they survive missteps and setbacks-while struggling to maintain their love and friendship-improvising their way through it all.

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Reviews

""Jennifer's ability to vividly describe her impressions in Improvising in Italian takes the reader on a fantastic trip where we, too, get to experience the food, the land, the people-and it's all so delicious! A perfect read for the globally curious-the adventurer at heart!"" -Jessica Buchanan, New York Times bestselling author of Impossible Odds ""Blend together unstoppable love, delectable food, and a craving for adventure. Add fistfuls of mishaps, some funny and others truly scary. Mix with heaping amounts of resilience, and you have a recipe for a sumptuous-and profound-memoir. Improvising in Italian is a winning chronicle of the quest for a fully authentic life."" -Dawn Raffel, author of Boundless as the Sky ""Part memoir, part travelogue, Jennifer Artley's Improvising in Italian is an honest, compelling, fascinating insider's view of a husband and wife starting a new life together as they take up residence in a small Italian city. Amongst the old-world beauty, culinary delights, and bureaucratic nonsense, they attempt to create a perfect life, just as a mysterious virus, COVID-19, begins to turn the world upside down and inside out. As her husband's various business ideas fizzle and fall apart, Jennifer tries desperately to hold things together, doing her best to support her husband's hopes and dreams, while grappling to make sense of her own life. A gem of a book that'll have you eagerly turning pages to find out what ultimately survives a world in chaos."" -Charles Salzberg, award-winning writer, three-time Shamus Award nominee, and author of Man on the Run ""Artley's breezy style of writing echoes the improvisational spirit that defines her memoir. . . . Her conversational tone draws readers into her world, making even the most personal struggles relatable and engaging. With courage and vulnerability, she opens herself to curiosity and adventure. Perfect book for fans who's ever dreamed of starting over in a foreign land."" -Dahlia Abraham-Klein, author of Caravan of Hope: A Bukharan Woman's Journey to Freedom ""In Improvising in Italian, Jennifer Artley takes a different approach from the well-trodden romantic notion of starting over in an exotic foreign country. . . . Artley, who has traveled the world and lived in numerous exotic locations, finds herself and her partner mired in a minefield of awkward business ventures while navigating the morality of being a wealthier immigrant in a country that opened its doors to others who are fleeing for their lives. ""In this painfully honest memoir and perhaps cautionary tale, Artley doesn't mince words about the unsavory side of doing business, the unusual mixture of friendships that develop, and the sheer terror of being in lockdown in Italy during COVID-19. . . . Her story is philosophical and poignant and offers rare insight into the reality of leading an adventuresome lifestyle."" -Donna Keel Armer, author of Solo in Salento: A Memoir (Italian Translation: Un'Americana in Salento) and the Cat Gabbiano Mystery Series: The Red Starfish and Moringa-Tree of Life ""Improvising in Italian is a heartfelt memoir, unveiling the Italian world of food, art, vintage cars, and soccer teams, as well as the country's impenetrable bureaucracy. Throughout Jennifer Artley's courageous adventures and revelatory experiences, we grow alongside her as she poignantly grapples with and gains insight into the meaning of 'home.'"" -Esther Amini, author of Concealed

Author Information

Jennifer Artley began her travel adventures early on as the child of US diplomats posting in far-flung countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In college, she interned at the American Embassy in Burma (Myanmar) during the pro-democracy demonstrations led by Aung San Suu Kyi. In her adult life, Jennifer continued to live abroad in China, Israel, and Italy while raising her two children. Her first book, Hard Sleeper, is a murder mystery that takes place in 1930s Peking. It was a finalist of the 2003 Readers Preference Editor's Choice Award for Historical Fiction. Jennifer divides her time between Alexandria, Virginia, and Milan, Italy.

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