Casa Mahler is like no other house that I have ever been in. It is a magical, enchanting place, with magnificent views of the Umbrian countryside, and capacious, quirky, and beautifully appointed rooms and apartments. But I think what makes it really special is the sense of being in a place that is enlivened and enriched with the finest European music, literature and art of the last century. Everywhere one looks there is either a beautiful artwork, or a book that you feel you have to read. It is like losing yourself in a Borgesian library, constantly stumbling upon treasures and discoveries. One day I happened to pick out a volume of Tennyson's poems, and I came upon some verses that opened up a whole new vista on Victorian literature - these are the verses that I quoted in The Nutmeg's Curse. I would never have come upon them had it not been for Casa Mahler.