{"product_id":"rancid-pansies-9781933372624","title":"Rancid Pansies","description":"When we last saw our hero he had taken to his bed in England, his  beloved home in Tuscany having inexplicably capsized into a ravine. As  \u003ci\u003eRancid Pansies\u003c\/i\u003e opens, Samper is recuperating in Sussex at the home of  the famous conductor Max Christ when he learns that film rights to his  book on Millie Cleat—the one-armed yachtswoman whose inadvertent  hari-kari televised on Christmas day gave his book an enormous  boost—have been sold. This windfall is sufficient to finance a return to  Italy and provide the time to indulge a long suppressed aspiration:  writing the libretto for an opera (if only he can find a suitable  subject). Before departing, the ever-gracious Gerald insists on  preparing a farewell dinner for Max, his family and friends. The meal of  liver smoothies and field mouse vol-au-vent is a memory-maker—and the  assembled company’s gag reflex is one of heroic proportions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBack in Italy, Gerald discovers that an offhand remark he had made  while surveying the wreckage of his house, claiming he and his friends  were saved by an apparition of the late Princess of Wales, has found its  way into the Italian newspapers. Now, religious pilgrims and curious  tourists have erected an ad hoc shrine on what is left of his property.  Annoying to be sure, but there is the kernel of a grand idea here. Opera  requires romance and tragedy, right? And who more than the People’s  Princess had such theatrics in super-sized quantities?  And, if Princess  Diana were to become Saint Diana, think of the promotional  possibilities, the merchandising! So fasten your seat belts: it’s going  to be a hilarious journey with some of the most appealing comic  characters and sumptuous writing in recent literature.","brand":"James Hamilton-Paterson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48170156065019,"sku":"9781933372624","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_a132262d-cc86-48ab-9e8f-af2bc09216d5.jpg?v=1770635813","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/rancid-pansies-9781933372624","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}