ABSTRACT
DESPITE HER INITIAL AND RATHER STARTLING INTRODUCTION TO OUR lives in Rome, my mother loved her new life abroad. It was a foreign fulfillment of her out-of-state dreams. It was exotic and exuberant and exciting. It was populated by colorful, often famous people who arrived in Rome after having seen and done the most amazing things—ridden camels and elephants, shot tigers, started revolutions, smuggled jewels, conducted secret affairs with deposed princes, and worshipped Buddha.
