The Story of San Michele

A bestseller in a dozen languages and a favorite of readers for decades, The Story of San Michele is one of a remarkable life filled with fabulous experiences and ambitions. Axel Munthe was a fashionable physician in Paris who built one of the best-loved houses in the world, San Michele, on the Isle of Capri, on the site of the villa of the emperor Tiberius. Written with intelligence and verve, this autobiography tells tales of buried treasure in Italy, legendary creatures in Lapland, and the cold countesses and kindly whores of Naplesenough material, as one critic put it, to furnish writers of short stories with plots for the rest of their lives. A frank and absorbing autobiographypacked with good stories, vivid scenes, and memorable portraits. -- The Times [London] Written in an imaginative style that is vigorous and impressive. -- New York Times