2 h 25 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 25 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a city in revolt, what does loyalty cost a girl with a hidden past?
The Foundling Girl of Milan by Carolina Invernizio brings hidden birth, danger and strong feeling into nineteenth-century Milan. At its heart is a foundling’s secret and the question of belonging. Without a known family or a secure place in the world, what can a person hold on to?
Milan gives this fast-moving story a setting of sharp contrasts: wealthy families, busy workshops, theaters and poor streets. Against this city’s unrest, loyalty carries a price. Invernizio’s bold plotting and emotional force invite you into a world where questions of birth and belonging are never small.
What you’ll discover
- A past kept hidden Follow the mystery of a foundling’s birth and the questions it raises about belonging.
- Milan in sharp contrast Enter a nineteenth-century city of wealthy families, busy workshops, theaters and poor streets.
- The cost of loyalty Explore a story that asks what loyalty demands when danger and strong feeling meet.
- Feeling without restraint Discover the emotional force of serial melodrama, with its danger, secrets and bold plotting.
- A place to belong Consider how a hidden birth shapes the search for family, a name and belonging.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love sweeping romantic melodrama, with secret births, disguises, rival lovers and fierce loyalties. It suits anyone drawn to Milan, to women who fight for what they love, and to stories built on strong feeling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A masked stranger shelters in a glove shop
- Annetta finds a bloodstained child in 1848
- Count Patta hides a shameful past
- Two honest women are set against each other
- A letter, a shop, and a garden at night
- Names and masks hide who people are
- Loyalty is the real fortune in this story
- A tale told with a heart on its sleeve
Who’s who
- MariaA proud, honest glove maker of Porta Vittoria who believes she is Annetta's daughter and wants to protect her mother and her good name.
- Annetta DuriniA widowed heroine of the Five Days who found a bloodstained child in 1848 and raised her with fierce love.
- AdrianaThe young countess and heir to a great fortune who loves Gabriele and wants to choose her own husband.
- Gabriele TerziA merchant's honest son who loves Adriana and is determined to learn why she turns away from him.
- Marquis Diego TianiA charming, ruthless orphan who lives in the count's palace and wants Adriana, her fortune, and revenge on his rival.
- Count Ercole PattaA warm host in company and a cold father in private, who guards the secret of his betrayal in Milan in 1848.
- ClarinaAdriana's devoted maid, who knows her secrets and offers her mistress comfort and loyalty.
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La fille trouvée de Milan
A masked stranger begs a Milan glove maker to hide him, and one kiss at midnight changes two women's lives.
Medium level2–5 hours to readfrançais
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In short
Picture a glove shop in Milan at midnight on the last night of Carnival. A masked stranger in sky-blue satin runs in and begs the owner to hide him.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A masked stranger shelters in a glove shop
The book opens at midnight on the last day of Carnival, in a glove shop on the Corso di Porta Vittoria. Maria, the young glove maker, has just put up the shutters. Many men come to her counter only to whisper a compliment. She smiles at all of them and encourages none, so her good name has never suffered a stain.
Then a masked figure in a black domino cloak bursts in and begs her to hide him. Maria nearly calls for help. But he drops his mask, and the face beneath is so charming, with jet-black eyes and blond curls, that she bolts the door. He says only that an enemy is searching the streets.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 1 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Invernizio, Carolina. The Foundling Girl of Milan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-foundling-girl-of-milan.
Invernizio, C. (2026). The foundling girl of Milan. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-foundling-girl-of-milan
Invernizio, Carolina. The Foundling Girl of Milan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-foundling-girl-of-milan.
@book{invernizio2026foundling,
author = {Invernizio, Carolina},
title = {The Foundling Girl of Milan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-foundling-girl-of-milan}
}
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What is The Foundling Girl of Milan about?
It follows Maria, a glove maker raised by a heroine of the 1848 uprising, who is drawn into a scheme by a charming marquis. Two women, a count's secret and an honest lover are bound together by one borrowed name.
Who is Annetta Durini in the book?
Annetta is a working woman who fought at the barricades of Porta Tosa in the Five Days of 1848. She finds a bloodstained child on her landing, names her Maria, and raises her as her own daughter.
What is the skull medallion in the story?
It is a gold medallion with a skull, hanging from a tiny chain, which Annetta finds around the child's neck in 1848. Together with the child's fine clothing, it provides a clue to her family and her birth.
The author
Carolina Invernizio
1851–1916 · Italian novelist
Carolina Invernizio (1851–1916) was an Italian novelist. She was born in Voghera and died in Cuneo. She lived in Florence, Turin and Cuneo. She wrote novels involving crime and family relationships in Italian. Her first novel appeared in 1877, and she continued writing into the early twentieth century.
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