Tourmaline

This universally acclaimed novel—hailed for its evocative descriptions, its compelling characters, and its intricate plot—transports readers to Elba, an island off the northwest coast of Italy, in the mid-1950s. It is here that an American man, seduced by the wealth promised in the island's plenitude of semiprecious tourmaline, has traveled with his wife and four young sons, and now struggles to establish a homestead and a fortune. However, the allure of one of Elba's other treasures—a bewitching local girl—derails his quest and threatens to destroy his family.