Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside by Andrea Di Robilant

From the author of the best-selling A Venetian Affair, here is the charming chronicle of his search for the identity of a mysterious old rose. Andrea di Robilant's tale takes us back to the time of Josephine Bonaparte, as well as into some of the most delightful rose gardens in Italy today, brought to colorful life on the page in the watercolors of artist Nina Fuga. In his 2008 biography of the Venetian lady Lucia Mocenigo (his great-great-great-great- grandmother), di Robilant described a pink rose that grows wild on the family's former country estate, mentioning its light peach-and-raspberry scent. This passing detail led to an invitation for an audience with a local rose doyenne, Eleonora Garlant. She and other experts wondered if di Robilant's unnamed rose could possibly be one of the long-lost China varieties that nineteenth-century European growers had cultivated but which have since disappeared. On the hunt for the identity of his anonymous yet quietly distinctive rose, Di Robilant finds himself captivated by roseophiles through time--from Lucia and her friend Josephine Bonaparte to the gifted Eleonora, whose garden of nearly fifteen hundred varieties of old roses is one of the most significant in Europe--and by the roses themselves, each of which has a tale to tell. What starts out as a lighthearted quest becomes a meaningful journey as di Robilant contemplates the enduring beauty of what is passed down to us in a rose, through both the generosity of nature and the cultivating hand of human beings, who for centuries have embraced and extended the life of this mysterious flower. Editorial Reviews Amazon Review Guest Review of Chasing the Rose, by Andrea Di Robilant By John Casey John Casey was born in 1939 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the University of Iowa. His previous novel, Spartina, won the 1989 National Book Award for fiction. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he is Henry Hoyns Professor in the English Department at the University of Virginia. He is literary executor of the estate of Breece D'J Pancake. In his quest for the genealogy of his rose, Andrea di Robilant deploys his gift for engaging with people. He shares this gift with the author of another of my favorite books, Akenfield by Ronald Blythe, an English poet who wandered around his county gathering the stories of gardeners, teachers, cooks, war veterans, lords and ladies. Andrea di Robilant has written something just as wonderful. He is fluent in at least three languages and has an amazingly detailed knowledge of history (Napoleon and Josephine play a part), but it is Andrea's enthusiasm and alert open-heartedness that make Chasing the Rose as full of incidents and personages as the most engaging novel. From Booklist Shakespeare's a rose by any other name takes on exacting and personal new meaning when di Robilant attempts to identify an old rose that has a deep and profound family history. Informed by the research done for Lucia (2008), his biography of his great-great-great-great-grandmother, Lucia Mocenigo, di Robilant's search for the botanical genealogy of a wild rose found on his ancestors' former estate in the Italian countryside ultimately took him from the illustrious gardens once belonging to Josephine Bonaparte to the inaccessible wilds of China's vast interior. Nowhere, however, would he be closer to his family's elusive, raspberry-scented, pale pink rose than in the company of Italy's reigning rose queen, Eleonora Garlant. As di Robilant describes his labyrinthine and frequently exasperating quest to determine the rose's roots and gain official recognition by registering its name, he charmingly uncovers the history of many of the rose kingdom's venerable stars. Di Robilant's tender memoir of his tenacious horticultural hunt is a treat for rose aficionados and historians as well as acquisitive gardeners of every variety. --Carol Haggas From Booklist Shakespeare's a rose by any other name takes on exacting and personal new meaning when di Robilant attempts to identify an old rose that has a deep and profound family history. Informed by the research done for Lucia (2008), his biography of his great-great-great-great-grandmother, Lucia Mocenigo, di Robilant's search for the botanical genealogy of a wild rose found on his ancestors' former estate in the Italian countryside ultimately took him from the illustrious gardens once belonging to Josephine Bonaparte to the inaccessible wilds of China's vast interior. Nowhere, however, would he be closer to his family's elusive, raspberry-scented, pale pink rose than in the company of Italy's reigning rose queen, Eleonora Garlant. As di Robilant describes his labyrinthine and frequently exasperating quest to determine the rose's roots and gain official recognition by registering its name, he charmingly uncovers the history of many of the rose kingdom's venerable stars. Di Robilant's tender memoir of his tenacious horticultural hunt is a treat for rose aficionados and historians as well as acquisitive gardeners of every variety. --Carol Haggas Review The hero of this tale is a nameless Chinese rose growing in Italy. The plot--part mystery, part quest--seeks to uncover its identity. The supporting characters--among them Empress Josephine--are an array of passionate, endearing breeders and collectors. The result is a delightful hybrid of history and horticulture that traces a single flower's journey halfway across the world. Di Robilant reveals that a rose is not only a rose, but an enigma whose beauty both roots us to the past and springs eternal.--Jhumpa Lahiri Reading Chasing the Rose is like taking a walk through a beautiful park. Together with the pleasure of the walk itself, you realize slowly that you are taking in the beauty and the fragrance of the plantings and their clever arrangement. You are being led gently by a knowledgeable and discreet guide who wears his learning lightly and manages to make this search for a flower into much more: the pursuit of beauty in life, a slice of history, the exploration of a subculture and of self-discovery. --Alexander Stille Illustrated throughout with charming watercolors, Di Robilant's is a unique exploration of how human history often leaves its imprint in the most unexpected of places. A quiet country pleasure.--Kirkus Reviews Fear not--let your eyes glaze over through the Latin-studded rose begats--and glean the tantalizing and titillating bits of history behind them that you won't find in any school books.--Richard Frisbee, New York Journal of Books Di Robilant takes readers on a gentle meander in this memoir inspired by a rose he discovered while researching the biography of his great-great-great-great-grandmother, Lucia Mocenigo, a friend of Josephine Bonaparte, which became A Venetian Affair (2003)... History and anecdote abound on this entertaining journey with di Robilant on his quest to get the rose officially named by the American Rose Society.--Publishers Weekly Di Robilant's quest leads him to Josephine Bonaparte's rose gardens, the China trade, rose smuggling during the Napoleonic wars, the disappearance of old roses in the 19th century and their rediscovery in the 20th. He considers orphan roses, natural hybrids and the politics of registering and naming roses today. . . Written and illustrated in a style reminiscent of Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, Chasing the Rose is a charming account of a modern obsession and its historical roots.--Pamela Toler, Shelf Awareness About the Author Andrea di Robilant was born in Italy and educated at Columbia University, where he specialized in international affairs. He is the author of A Venetian Affair, Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon, and Irresistible North: From Venice to Greenland on the Trail of the Zen Brothers. He lives in Rome.