The Nostalgia of the Infinite

James is a jaded professional living in modern day Melbourne, the orphaned son of Italian immigrants. He has grown up with a detached interest in his Italian background, a view filtered through romantic notions of the family’s chateau in Rufino, the story of a vanished painting by the Surrealist artist Giorgio de Chirico, and the exotic letters from his bohemian cousin Martin. It is one of these letters, and a chance encounter with a young woman, Gabriella, that changes his ambivalence, and prompts a search that will lead James to Italy and become a last chance for redemption and rescue: for the house at Rufino, for himself and Gabriella, and for his entire family. James' tale is interwoven with episodes from the life of his Aunt Caterina and pre and post war Italy. The common thread that links the parallel stories to the conclusion of the novel is de Chirico’s most enigmatic painting, The Nostalgia of the Infinite.