Giovanni Boccaccio

The Decameron, Volume II Giovanni Boccaccio

The Decameron is a tale of tales: a group of travelers in medieval Italy seeking refuge from the Black Plague share stories with each other, each day working within a theme like "love tales that end happily" or "the power of fortune." There's a bit of everything here, including true love (within marriage and outside it), mythology fused with medieval events, tyrants and pirates confounded, jealousy punished and intelligence rewarded, bawdy comedy and romantic loss. Boccaccio's travelers share their love of physical, emotional, and even spiritual joys, and their appreciation of the dangers and troubles along the way.