The Romance of Giovanni Calvotti: From Coals of Fire and Other Stories, Volume II. (of III.)

An Italian artist in London, reduced to a shabby attic room after gambling away his inheritance, might seem like a familiar Victorian type. But Giovanni Calvotti possesses a whimsical defiance that lifts him above cliché. When a mishap with his painting draws him into the lives of Cecilia and her sister Miss Grammont, he finds something more precious than wealth: connection shadowed by his own unrequited longing. Murray weaves artistry, poverty, and tender emotion into a story that builds toward the unthinkable: Giovanni accused of murder. What follows is a test of innocence, love, and the strange mercies of fate.