Recipe for a mouth-watering A family secret, a miraculous transformation, an Internet stranger, a friendly American scientist, and a girl with the strength to make it all come out right. "The way to outsmart death, Elisa dear, is to turn into something else," says Elisa's grandmother, an actress with a flair for the dramatic. But when it seems as if Nonna might actually be changing literally, Elisa must uncover a series of why is it that her mother and her grandmother don't talk? Where is the exotic island of Aldabra - and how can it help her grandmother? Who is the man on the internet so eager to know the details of Nonna's transformation? And how will it all work out? Find out in Gandolfi's sparkling tale of love, magic, and moxie on the canals of Venice.