In this book Hemingway retums to Italy, the scene of his earlier classic, "A Farewell to Arms". This time the war is just over and in Venice, a city elaborately and affectionately described, an American colonel falls passionately, totally in love with an Italian countess. He is embittered, war-scarred, old enough to be her father but is bowled over by the selflessness and freshness of the love she is offering... But this is no fairy tale. The fighting may be finished but the wounds of war have not yet healed-and for some the longed- for peace has come too late.