Product Description

Set in the beautiful city of Florence, the politics and the intrigue grow ever more dangerous. And beware - much that seems beautiful is in fact deadly poison. Featuring favourite characters from the first two titles in the series, including Georgia and Falco, as well as a host of exciting new characters, this breathtaking new novel will not disappoint.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #372688 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-06
• Released on: 2006-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

From the Author
My first two finished copies of City of Flowers arrived yesterday morning (29th January) and look magnificent. I wanted to give some public acknowledgement to Ian Butterworth the designer and Carol Lawson the artist. Inside, the black and white drawings at the beginning of each chapter are by Peter Bailey, who did them for the first two titles and add so much to the atmosphere of the books. All three have been a delight to handle.

And then there are the words inside ... This is a long one - about 115,000 words - but it does wrap up what I hope will be just the first trilogy. Lots of you kindly write to ask for more and perhaps after a break there will be.

Thank you to all the readers who have helped to make Stravaganza such a success; it couldn't happen without you.

Mary Hoffman

About the Author
Mary Hoffman is a bestselling children's author. She is the author of the picture book Amazing Grace which is an international bestseller. Her first two novels for Bloomsbury in the Stravaganza series have been bestsellers. She is a complete afficionado of Italy, and spends as much time as she can there - all her love for Italy has been infused into the Stravaganza series. Mary is also the editor of Armadillo, a children's review magazine. She has three grown-up children and lives with her husband in Carterton, outside Oxford.

Customer Reviews

fabulous
A Fantastic book which kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through.Once again there is a new stravaganti named Sky who lived up to the great standards that georgia and lucien set in the country Talia!Sky is transported to the city of flowers (florence) by ways of a blue perfume bottle and is needed to help keep peace in Talia with the help of the other stravaganti because the infamous Di Cimichi are planning a wedding more grand then anyone in the history of Talia have ever known and their enemy the nucci family have a plan up their sleeve to bring the blissful celebrations to a dramatic halt.We see new faces aswell as old ones in this story e.g Sky, Alice, luciano, Arrianna, rodolfo and falco (nicholas). A great ending to a very masterful trilogy with adventure, suspense, love, tragedy and mystery. (just an ordinary day in Talia)!

Third Part of the Stravaganza Trilogy
City of Flowers is the third book in the Stravaganza Trilogy by Mary Hoffman. It is set in Giglia, an alternate centuries-old Florence. If you've read and enjoyed part 1 (City of Masks) and part 2 (City of Stars) then this is a 'must-read.' Part 3 is longer than parts 1 and 2 put together - and in it we continue the adventures of Arianna, Luciano and Georgia, we find out what happened to Prince Falco (A.K.A. Nicholas), and meet new Stravagante, (traveller through time/space), Sky Meadows.

This is a wonderful conclusion to the series - and draws all the many plot strands of the trilogy together perfectly. It has to be said, that if you haven't read the earlier parts of this series, you might struggle to keep track of the multitudinous characters and there alternating Anglian/Talian names, (although a handy 'Dramatis Personae' is included at the back for easy reference). I'd recommend reading the first two books first. This is a wonderful series, brimful of drama, rich in colourful detail, and gives such a flavour of Old Italy that you can almost taste the wine and smell the flowers!

Stravaganza series - City of Flowers
I enjoyed the first two books in the series, and wondered if the third would keep up the quality. It does, and the very appearance whets the appetite - the cover is excellent, with deliciously exquisite marbling and a clever cut out, and the volume feels like a real book. Bloomsbury is so good at that.

The book itself does a fine job of blending together the characters and events of the first two books, and manages the complex business of dealing with two complete societies convincingly and with reassuring ease. Well, more than two - if you don't know about the series, it deals with young people of today who manage to time-travel (quite convincingly, for once)and slip in and out of sixteenth century Italian city-states - the city of flowers is Florence, and the other two cities are Venice and Siena. Each city is a state in its own right, with its own traditions and politics, and so there are three quite different societies in sixteenth century Italy, not just one.

The books maintain the essential stance of the young people in both centuries, and although we also meet parents and other adults, the focus is firmly on the very real issues that young people then and now have to meet and deal with. There are big themes here - death, grieving and loss, betrayal, very real danger, not all of it predictable; and the characters weave in and out of each others' lives in a very engaging and finally satisfying way. Magic, horses, love, friendship, adventure, humour, even internationally famous rock stars - yes, all of the above, and more. Begin with the first volume - Stravaganze City of Masks - and enjoy reading your way through all of them