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Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron is a masterpiece of world literature that inspired Chaucer, Shakespeare, Poe, and countless writers of popular fiction for more than 650 years since its original publication around the year 1350
. Taking place in the plague year of 1348 in Florence, Italy, The Decameron follows ten wealthy young people who abandon the city for a luxurious country retreat. Once there, they attempt to banish their sorrows by communing with nature, singing, dancing, and telling stories; in all, one hundred stories are told.