The Lizard 1. The Lizard

This series of four books, titled after the four seasons, follows the relationship which forms when Luca, the youngest of four brothers from a working class family of artisans, meets Alessandro, a boy a little older from a noble and rich family. The contrasts are stark and confrontation presents itself from all angles, not the least being within Lucas's own family. 

An epic struggle and a classic love story, the setting, history, and art, of Italy provides a magnificent backdrop incredibly well described by the author. Despite the formatting, most probably a function of this being published in 2011, and notwithstanding the at times oddly written phrases, English is not the author's mother tongue, this is without any doubt a masterpiece. Four books which standout from the usual as wonderful works of fiction with so much more to them than simply the love story.

A whole host of friends and enemies are conjured with equal skill and the story tells the lives of more than only the two protagonists. At times sad, at times exuberant, sexy, and emotional, the story simply can't be put down. The books live and the characters are as real as anyone you may have met. They have their good points and their less good points, each has his or her own character, and they develop over the period of a few years, just as each of us grows up, grows older, and changes.

This series of books were recommended by a friend, and once I started reading I could not stop. I quickly got past any imperfections, and despite it being not polished like the finished carvings in Lucas's workshop, or the marble statues which adorn the Italian city of Florence, it rose above all this by its shear quality. Despite it being a series which can always be daunting to start, in the end you will thank the author for it being long, because like all good books, you don't want them to end.