Dreaming Sophia: Because Dreaming is an Art - Softcover

Muldoon, Melissa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0997634804 ISBN 13: 9780997634808

Publisher: Matta Press, 2016

Synopsis

Dreaming Sophia is a magical look into Italy, language, art, and culture. It is a story about turning dreams into reality and learning to walk the fine line between fact and fantasy. When tragedy strikes, Sophia finds herself alone in the world, without direction and fearful of loving again. With only her vivid imagination to guide her, she begins a journey that will take her from the vineyards in Sonoma, California to a grad school in Philadelphia and, eventually, to Italy: Florence, Lucca, Rome, Verona, Venice, and Val d’Orcia. Through dreamlike encounters, Sophia meets Italian personalities—princes, poets, duchesses, artists, and film stars— who give her advice to help put her life back together. Following a path that takes her from grief to joy, she discovers the source of her creativity and learns to love again, turning her dreams into reality.

About this title

About the Author:

Melissa Muldoon is the “Studentessa Matta”. In Italian, “matta” means “crazy” or “impassioned”. She promotes the study of Italian language and culture through the dual-language blog StudentessaMatta.com. She has a B.A. in fine arts, art history and European history from Knox College and a master’s in art history from the University of Illinois. She has studied painting, language and art history in Florence. Dreaming Sophia is a fanciful look at art history, but it is also a culmination of personal stories and insights resulting from Melissa’s experiences traveling and living in Italy, as well as her involvement and familiarity with the Italian language, painting and art history. Join the Dreaming Sophia community for more adventures with Sophia, art and Italian culture at www.DreamingSophiaBook.com As a student, Melissa lived in Florence with an Italian family. She studied art history and painting and took beginner Italian classes. When she returned home, she threw away her Italian dictionary, assuming she’d never need it again. But after launching a successful design career and starting a family, she realized something was missing in her life. That “thing” was the connection she had made with the country and with friends who live there. Living in Italy was really a life-changing event! Wanting to reconnect with Italy, she decided to start learning the language again from scratch. As if indeed possessed by an Italian muse, she bought a new Italian dictionary and began her journey to fluency—a path that has led her back to Italy many times and which has enriched her life in countless ways. Now, many dictionaries and grammar books later, she dedicates her time to promoting Italian language studies, further travels in Italy, and sharing her stories and insights about Italy with others. When Melissa is not wandering about Italy, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is married and has three boys and two beagles named Sinbad and Moka. Melissa designed and illustrated the cover art for Dreaming Sophia. She also designed the Dreaming Sophia website and created the character illustrations that can be found in the book and on the Dreaming Sophia websites.

Review:

"Author Melissa Muldoon presents spellbinding artistic expression in her delightful story, Dreaming Sophia." - Reader Views Sheri HoyteNot your typical Italian romantic adventure, Dreaming Sophia is a wonderful multifaceted story that pushes through several genres, with layers and layers of exquisite entertainment. The story interweaves the experiences of a young girl as she overcomes significant loss and learns to love again, a historical peek into the lives of notable Italian dignitaries, and wonderful lessons and insight into all the splendor of Italy's culture, language, art, and magical countryside. Basically it's a coming of age story, a romantic drama, action and adventure tale, travel guide, history text, artist book, and fantasy novel all rolled into one - phew!I enjoyed this story immensely and was taken with the author's creativity. Her love and passion for all things Italian exude from every single page. She writes with an undeniably distinctive flair, and the seemingly effortless ability to draw readers into her world. The development of her characters is flawless.And, I know it is cliché to say that the author writes in such a way that I felt like I was right there, but here goes - the author writes in such a way that I felt like I was right there in the story with Sophia! I highly recommend Dreaming Sophia by Melissa Muldoon. It's a fantastic read with an appeal that will captivate and take you on a journey you won't soon forget.

Dianne Hales, author La Bella Lingua and Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered - In Dreaming Sophia, Melissa Muldoon weaves many strands of Italian culture into a delightful blend of fantasy, romance, art and history. With an artist's keen eye and deft touch, she brings to life the titans of Italian culture in a touching tale of a young woman reeling from loss who discovers that Italy is the answer. The many Italophiles who share her belief will revel in the adventures of this kindred spirit. Brava, Melissa!

Laura Fabiani, Italy Book Tours - I loved following in Sophia's footsteps as she was introduced to Florence and the Italian culture. Her vivid imagination and her love of artistic icons was charming. Melissa Muldoon's experience with Italians and their expressions, wives's tales and cultural idiosyncrasies had me chuckling. It had me reminiscing all the times my mom and nonna would do and say the exact same things! But it's the ex-pat life of an artist who discovers who she truly is meant to be that warmed my heart as I read Dreaming Sophia. To all the dreamers out there, the message is that no matter how rough the start, dreams do become reality.

Mary A. Osborne, Award-winning author of Alchemy's Daughter and Nonna's Book of Mysteries - In Dreaming Sophia, Melissa Muldoon shares her love of art and all things Italian. Inhabited by an eclectic cast of historical characters, the story emerged from the author's numerous travels to Italy, her deep appreciation of Italian culture, and her spirited, years-long study of the language.

Caroline Eitzen, author of A Tangled Tale - Mona Lisa's Knot - I just finished reading Dreaming Sophia and I loved it! It has all the makings of a success: colorful, heartfelt, searching, with a wonderful mix of Italian culture and history. And how can you not drop of a few tears!

About this edition

• Publisher: Matta Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0997634804
• ISBN 13: 9780997634808
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 275