This diary records the events leading up to the resignation of Urbano Rattazzi and his ministry in Italy, as well as the events that follow the 1862 elections and the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States. While the Marshes search for a new place to live, they sightsee in Como, hike Mount Bisbino, and settle into a temporary residence in Pegli (a seaside neighborhood in Genoa), where they befriend the Tebbs and Strettell families.
Topics in this diary include Giuseppe Garibaldi, renting and occupying real estate in Italy, Italian art and architecture, Italian etiquette, Italian marriages, the education of women in the 19th century, tourism in Italy, the culture, climate, and industries in Genoa; Italian agricultural practices, public religious celebrations, the “Roman Question,” Christianity among the English and their attitudes towards Catholicism, crime and punishment in Italy, and Caroline Crane Marsh’s reasons for keeping a diary.