I am hoping that the EXTREMELY well read folks on this board can help me find a book that I once read but can’t remember the title of. I’ve tried working the search functions on the out-of-print book sites to no avail.
The story was about a high school age American girl who is sent to Rome by the grandfather who raised her, to live with an elderly contessa and her family. The grandfather tells his granddaughter that the old lady( who he knew when he was a music student in Italy) can teach her all the things he can’t.
Turns out it’s not “female” things, but how to scheme, plot, and connive. The girl, having lived most of her life with an older man, has not learned how to hold her own with her peers. Of course there are all kinds of adventures, she makes friends with a star-crossed couple and helps get them set up together, etc.
I think, but am not sure, that “Rome” or “Roman” was in the title but this had not helped me find the book. The author was a guy, which is kind of interesting as he wrote the story in the first person, as did Heinlein in Podkayne of Mars. Another clue is that the author was once some kind of diplomat or ambassador in Italy. The words “brutta figura” figured a lot in the book, as the contessa’s family wanted to exhibit the utmost proprietym at least in public
If you think you know this book, could you tell me about it? I really DID try to find it before begging here.