"This culturally rich, poignant first novel tells the story of Giulia Di Cuore, a first-generation Italian-American woman struggling with the old-world values of her father, a psychiatrist, as she discovers her place in the world as a daughter, as a woman, and as an American." "Before seventeen-year-old Giulia spends the summer in Italy with her father's brothers and their families, there is little doubt in her mind who she is. She is American: she wants to date, listen to the Beatles, and go to college in New York City. But since the death of Giulia's mother, the mission of her stubborn and exacting Italian-born father has been to protect her from America: American ways, American toys, American freedom. Most important, he wants Giulia to meet her family in Italy in the hopes of finding common ground between his world and hers and improving their increasingly troubled relationship." "Although Giulia agrees to go abroad, she has no intention of enjoying herself, let alone falling in love - with her Italian family, with Italy itself, and, least of all, with a green-eyed handsome Italian named Luca. Torn between her American values and her Italian heritage, between her father and Luca, Giulia is forced to come to a new understanding of herself and her place in the world." "The Courtyard of Dreams is a deeply compelling, richly textured novel about a volatile father-daughter relationship and the effects of the American dream on an extended Italian family."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved