{"id":337586,"date":"2025-12-10T11:20:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/a-midsummer-rome-ance-duncan-grant\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T11:20:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:20:47","slug":"a-midsummer-rome-ance-duncan-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=337586","title":{"rendered":"A Midsummer Rome-ance < Duncan Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"


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You might remember that, in 2019, my wining Liberty fabric was used for the cover of a special edition of Anna Burns\u2019 2018 Man Booker Prize winner, Milkman. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019d never designed a book cover from scratch though. But earlier this year, I was persuaded by new author Lucy Elena, over a rather nice lunch, to design the cover for her first novel The Starling Dance<\/em>, which is published today on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook.<\/p>\n

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Lucy is a multilingual journalist who has worked across Europe and Latin America.\u00a0The Starling Dance<\/em>\u00a0is her debut novel. It was dreamt up initially as a film while she was working in Rome. She became interested in the street artists she passed every day on her way to work, eventually getting to know some of them.<\/p>\n

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The artsy film of her imagination never materialised though \u2013 work and life got in the way \u2013 but, eight years later and four years in the writing, The Starling Dance<\/em>\u00a0was born in novel form \u2013 and I did the cover.<\/p>\n

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The green eye, requested by Lucy, was added by designer, Linda Cole, who also painstakingly added the correct number of starlings to every chapter heading.<\/p>\n

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So what\u2019s it about? It\u2019s a romance with an edge, and people who have read the draft, as the Amazon AI summariser might say, find it quirky, funny, thought provoking and magical, with beautiful descriptions of Rome \u2013 a perfect summer read. But why not order a copy and judge for yourself! Details of how to, below.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll let Lucy tell you a bit more about it. Here is her book description from the Amazon website. I just do the art!<\/p>\n

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The Starling Dance: a riotous, heart-warming summer romance set in Rome<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a sweltering Roman summer, Laure is trying to start a new life. But can she manage in a city where walls have ears, trees have eyes and even the birds are acting strangely?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been exactly one year since the shit hit the fan and Laure\u2019s anxiety exploded into a full-blown burn out. In search of a new start she\u2019s moved to Rome \u2013 pasta, Aperol and sunshine should make everything better, right?<\/p>\n

But with her 30s around the corner,\u00a0la bella vita<\/em>\u00a0isn\u2019t going to plan.<\/p>\n

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  1. Her boyfriend, the dreamy Davide, has disappeared (Either Laure\u2019s been ghosted or he\u2019s accidentally fallen off a cliff \u2013 hopefully)<\/li>\n
  2. She wants to murder her neighbours: their arguments are keeping her up all night.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In her local caf\u00e9, Laure meets a handsome stranger and the sparks fly, that is until she finds herself caught in a big lie.<\/p>\n

    \u2018Hmmm, it\u2019s not ideal,\u2019<\/em>\u00a0says her best friend Eva, as she puffs on a spliff in the bathtub.<\/p>\n

    Just as things are heating up, a talking tree enters the fray (as if this Roman summer wasn\u2019t weird enough, just ask the birds).<\/p>\n

    That tree is Viviano, a dynamic and adventurous street performer who poses around the Eternal City dressed as a tree, well, sometimes a cat too and sometimes a ripe tomato. He could be thriving in life but something is holding him back. One thing is certain though: he wants to meet Laure.<\/p>\n

    Will Laure find her path? Will she accidentally put pineapple on a pizza? And is there a real love story to be found in the surreal swirls of the Italian capital?<\/p>\n

    The Starling Dance<\/em>\u00a0is a love story full of quirk, humour and heart-warming characters, each trying to overcome their personal obstacles and demons to give themselves a chance at life and love.<\/p>\n

    How to buy a copy<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The Starling Dance<\/em> is available to purchase on Amazon in the UK via this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Paperback \u2013 \u00a38.70<\/p>\n

    Kindle \u2013 \u00a32.49<\/p>\n

    At the moment, it isn\u2019t searchable on any Amazon marketplace \u2013 that takes a few days apparently \u2013 but if you\u2019re ordering it from abroad, you can find it by going to the \u2018books\u2019 section of Amazon and searching there.<\/p>\n

    If you like the book, please share and write a review. <\/p>\n

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