The Volcano Lover

The Volcano Lover is an enchanting, always interesting, and always entertaining book. It has been described as "a big, old-fashioned broth of a book" by John Banville in The New York Times.

The British Ambassador at the court of Naples has only two passions: his precious art collection, and his fascination with volcanoes. This changes when he agrees to care for his nephew's discarded mistress. As he acquires a new obsession in the shape of this beautiful, vulgar, carefree woman, he eventually takes her for his wife.

However, when the heroic captain of the British Navy arrives in Italy, an affair erupts between him and the ambassador's wife, threatening to throw everyone's lives off course. Susan Sontag's exquisite re-telling of the story of Nelson and Emma Hamilton is a powerful exploration of love and possession that, with its shifting voices and viewpoints, conjures up an entire age.

A review by the Philadelphia Inquirer lauds it as "A great novel. It repeatedly scales heights of complex thought, passion and expression that few American writers ever approach, while reimagining a majestic love story in dazzling style."