Gail Tanzer

Across the Alps: the Secret Life of Albrecht Durer Gail Tanzer

Publisher Marketing: Standing on a ridge of the Bavarian Alps, artist Albrecht Durer is torn between responsibility and infatuation. Below him lie Venice and the vibrant woman he just met. Ahead of him is Nuremberg, where he and his wife make their home. Durer's wife lacks the allure and spirit of the Venetian woman, but his marriage to her secured him with the artistic workshop he so desperately needs. So, suppressing his desires, a despondent Durer chooses duty over passion and turns his steps toward home. So begins "Across the Alps," Gail Tanzer's intriguing fictionalization of the life of one of history's great artists. With his wife's support, Durer manufactures exquisite religious woodcuts, making them into prints and selling them at prices even common people can afford. His success and reputation soar, but Durer is troubled. He yearns for passion and beauty, two desires that his loyal but cold and homely wife cannot satisfy. Driven by the need for resolution, Durer returns to Venice, committed to locating a man forging his work in Venice but mainly to see what he has been missing. What happens in Venice forces Durer into making a final decision between a great romance and fidelity-a choice that will change the course of his life forever. "