Mysterious rose helped Italian writer uncover his family history
When the Italian writer Andrea Di Robilant discovered a mysterious rose growing in the woods of a house once owned by his family, his curiosity led him to investigate.
The result is a new book called Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside.
The story charts the history of this rose all the way back to Josephine Bonaparte and the author's great-great-great-great grandmother.
It leads him into a world of a roses that reveals the fascinating links between China and Europe, horticulture and obsession from the age of empire to the present.
During a trip to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in the New York Botanical Garden, the writer talked about his quest to find the name of this rose.
Produced by Damian Fowler and Anna Bressanin
Location courtesy of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in the New York Botanical Garden.
Picture This is a series of video features published every Thursday on the BBC News website which illustrate interviews with authors about their new books.
05 Jun 2014
- From the section Magazine