Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant enough but..., 24 April 2009
Apologies to all the fans of this book, but after the rave reviews I found it somewhat lacking. I'm not going to repeat the plot as that's already been done, but this felt very slight and oddly both operatically overblown and yet at the same time stripped of true emotion.
The structure of past and present linked through family ancestry is one which every other novel around seems to emulate. While the narrative is mainly in the third person there are irritating interjections on nearly every page where suddenly the protagonist says a few words (and I do mean a few) for her/himself, but they tend to repeat what we have already been told.
I found the modern story more engaging that the past one (and I'm usually the other way around with novels). Emotions were very clumsily delineated, in my view: people felt literally dizzy with surprise, were physically sick with nerves, literally jumped in the air for joy, were constantly shaken, breathless, overthrown... all very exhausting to read. When the protagonist is asked to be the model of an advertising campaign for Venetian glass, she thinks the idea is 'obscene' - why? Yet another exmple of soap-opera-style emotion that seems way out of kilter with what was actually called for.
The central relationship between Leonora and the rather lovely Alessandro was very pale: there's no real sense of any relationship between them. And the ending was just too fairy-tale for words.
I'm perhaps sounding more critically negative than is appropriate: this isn't a bad novel, it's a pleasant enough read, it would be perfect for a sleepy holiday in the sun, and it slips down very easily on a commute. It's just very slight and a little too bland for me. Definitely 3 stars.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautifully crafted read with great pace against the evocative backdrop of Venice. , 16 May 2008
I give this book a 5 star recommendation, read it cover to cover and would really recommend it to anyone.
Throughout the attention to detail is fantastic from the description of the intricacies of Venice's architecture to the technical details of subjects as diverse as mirror making and old manuscript preservation.
This novel runs in a dual time theme with a fast paced gripping and tragic industrial espionage tale intertwined with a modern day emotional search for happiness. At it's 'heart' it's a tale of love and family across the ages but anyone thinking this is a touchy feely emotional wet blanket should think again. The historical pot starts with an atmospheric chase through renaissance carnival Venice, culminates in a murder that sets a host of questions that are answered in both time threads. Moral decisions and dilemmas abound and the both time threads have their fare share of edgy moral moments.
Without giving too much away there's a piece of political satire that makes you laugh out loud and then feel shocked to the core within a sentence, there's witty comment on the clash of modern commercial need with the historical artisan's craftsmanship and a beautiful dream sequence with a nightmarish awakening that might well affect your sleep if you dwell on it too long!
The quality of writing throughout is of a good standard and I know there's alot of historical fiction on the shelves but I'd really recommend this read. The author's style is entertaining and easy reading so this is a great book if you like a good read and want to learn something of history!
And I meant what I said about not putting it down.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Venice stars in this good summer read., 5 Jul 2008
I can't get enough of novels set in Italy, even more so if set in Venice, so this wasn't going to languish at the bottom of my to be read pile ... was it worth promoting?
Mostly yes ... Like many novels these days it seems, there are parallel strands - weaving a modern day story with a historical one. Usually one strand is more interesting than the other, and this is no exception; but unlike Labyrinth say, where the contemporary strand was superfluous and detracted from the historical one, this novel nearly pulls it off.
Newly single Nora runs off to Venice to find herself and her family history in the glassblowing trade, where she meets and falls for Alessandro, a policeman. So far, so resonant of a younger version of 'Miss Garnet's angel' by Sally Vickers. But Leonora, to give her full name, is herself a skilled craftswoman and artist and does have Venetian heritage, and she persuades a 'fornace' to take her on as an apprentice - causing age-old rivalries to resurface between her and Roberto, from the line of her ancestor's greatest rival.
Back in the 17th century, her ancestor, Corradino, the glassblower of the title, is Murano's greatest exponent of making Venetian mirrors much coveted the world over. The Murano glassblowers are the best in the world, with rivalry between themselves also, and their techniques and trade secrets are so prized guarded by the Venetians, so that they are rarely allowed off the island, and he rarely gets to see his secret daughter from a liaison with a noblewoman who died in childbirth. Then he gets persuaded by the lure of being reunited fully with his daughter to escape to France to furnish what will become the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, he can't resist. As he is constantly watched, the only way they can get him away is to fake his death - like Juliet - with a potion ...
The two stories converge as Leonora tries to clear his name of the betrayal and heal the rift at the fornace.
We learn just the right amount about glassblowing and the potentially deadly process of silvering the mirrors with mercury without getting over-technical. The author, a Shakespearean scholar, pays her debt to him with reference to Romeo & Juliet. But I would have liked to find out more about was 'The Ten' - the Venetian cult of assassins who stalked Corradino and ultimately collect their debt when he returns to Venice one last time.
I enjoyed the historical stand more than the contemporary, yet they did entwine nicely by the end. An entertaining and romantic summer read with a stunning location.
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