The House of Hope — Kate Alexander

In 1861, Vittorio Speranza set sail from Italy for England with his inheritance: an ancient marble statue of Hermes, a fifteenth-century depiction of the Nativity by the Italian master Monaccio, and a gold cup attributed to Benvenuto Cellini.Arriving in England from Sicily, Vittorio sets himself up as a fine-art dealer, using a cache of diamonds as capital. He also carried with him a very valuable talent -- Vittorio Speranza had an almost uncanny ability to discern the priceless from the mundane, the true work of fine art from the worthless fake. The succesfull House of Hope auction-house, was established by Vittorio's exceptional taste in antiquities -- and by his marriage to a beautiful English. After an early success, his hopes of a dynastic succession are dashed by a passionate feud. His his son opens his own sale room elsewhere in London, but the family link endures to survive the Depression and then the Blitz. But the family links endure and the diamond legacy is used again. A multigenerational saga that chronicles his and his family's quest for wealth, adventure, and romance.