Vivaldi's Virgins: A Novel
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"Quick's descriptions of Anna Maria's violin playing soar off the page, evoking Vivaldi's own compositions."--San Francisco Chronicle
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Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pieta as an infant, is determined to find out who she is and where she came from. Her quest takes her beyond the cloister walls into the complex tapestry of Venetian society, from the impoverished alleyways of the Jewish Ghetto to a masked ball in the company of a king; from the passionate communal life of adolescent girls competing for their maestro's favor to the larger-than-life world of music and spectacle that kept the citizens of a dying republic in thrall. In this world, where for fully half the year the entire city is masked and cloaked in the anonymity of Carnival, nothing is as it appears to be.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Vivaldi's Virgins is a coming of age story set in 18th century Venice utilizing and transforming a literary form popular during that era. As a violinist, the narrator allows the reader to experience the richness of Vivaldi's music from a perspective unavailable today to modern listeners. Barbara Quick presents a vivid image of 18th century Venice and Vivaldi through the eyes and life of the narrator Anna Maria. An orphan in the cloistered halls of the Ospedale della Pieta, Anna Maria dal Violin has been handpicked at an early age to join the elite musical group within the foundling home and be taught by the maestro Vivaldi. Although cloistered within the Pieta, the reader learns of Venice through those who come to visit the Pieta and through the tours and secret escapes of the curious girls.
Barbara Quick's novel removes the masks so carefully worn by the upper strata of Venice society. Vivaldi is seen through the eyes of his students and musicians. Vivaldi's Virgins is a combination of first person narrative in which Anna Maria tells her life story and an epistolary novel 'a novel told through letters', a genre emerging in popularity during the 18th century. As a disciplinary measure, Sister Laura instructs Anna Maria to write to calm Anna Maria's growing passion. She writes letters to her unknown mother never knowing whether they will be read nor by whom. Anna Maria lies hidden and almost invisible, living behind a grille from the public. Barbara Quick's novel removes the grille and allows the reader to peer inside the life of this 18th century woman who cries out for her mother and makes Vivaldi's genius heard by his public. Anna Maria dal Violin is the body and the violin through which Vivaldi's music is heard. Images of the voice of the violin and the voice of a child's body maturing merge with the search for her mother and her prayers to the Virgin Mother. A special plot twist at the end will delight all readers. This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers: those craving something of literary beauty, Vivaldi and classical music lovers, women wanting to experience history through the eyes of the women who lived it but for whom history rarely relates their story, and anyone wanting to peek into the lesser known history of Venice or music.
In the tradition of Dante Alighieri and his letters to Beatrice also written without certainty that they would ever be read by the intended reader, Barbara Quick cites this medieval reference, combining it with the 18th century epistolary novel and modernizes both. Although a reader need no knowledge of these literary traditions to enjoy this novel, the thoroughness of the author's research heightens the reading pleasure. The historical detail is well researched and the fictional imagination is breathtaking. The poetic language of each sentence is exquisite. Although I am a fast reader, I found myself reading slowly, creeping actually, but pausing on each page to savor its beauty and poetic prose. It has been 17 years since my graduate studies in literature and I thought I had finally conquered my terrible habit of writing in my books. After reading ten pages of Barbara Quick's Vivaldi's Virgins, I broke down and wrote in the book and continued to the end, rereading each line as I underlined. There is a multitude of passages so beautiful that I want to reread them several times.
Barbara Quick's novel removes the masks so carefully worn by the upper strata of Venice society. Vivaldi is seen through the eyes of his students and musicians. Vivaldi's Virgins is a combination of first person narrative in which Anna Maria tells her life story and an epistolary novel 'a novel told through letters', a genre emerging in popularity during the 18th century. As a disciplinary measure, Sister Laura instructs Anna Maria to write to calm Anna Maria's growing passion. She writes letters to her unknown mother never knowing whether they will be read nor by whom. Anna Maria lies hidden and almost invisible, living behind a grille from the public. Barbara Quick's novel removes the grille and allows the reader to peer inside the life of this 18th century woman who cries out for her mother and makes Vivaldi's genius heard by his public. Anna Maria dal Violin is the body and the violin through which Vivaldi's music is heard. Images of the voice of the violin and the voice of a child's body maturing merge with the search for her mother and her prayers to the Virgin Mother. A special plot twist at the end will delight all readers. This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers: those craving something of literary beauty, Vivaldi and classical music lovers, women wanting to experience history through the eyes of the women who lived it but for whom history rarely relates their story, and anyone wanting to peek into the lesser known history of Venice or music.
In the tradition of Dante Alighieri and his letters to Beatrice also written without certainty that they would ever be read by the intended reader, Barbara Quick cites this medieval reference, combining it with the 18th century epistolary novel and modernizes both. Although a reader need no knowledge of these literary traditions to enjoy this novel, the thoroughness of the author's research heightens the reading pleasure. The historical detail is well researched and the fictional imagination is breathtaking. The poetic language of each sentence is exquisite. Although I am a fast reader, I found myself reading slowly, creeping actually, but pausing on each page to savor its beauty and poetic prose. It has been 17 years since my graduate studies in literature and I thought I had finally conquered my terrible habit of writing in my books. After reading ten pages of Barbara Quick's Vivaldi's Virgins, I broke down and wrote in the book and continued to the end, rereading each line as I underlined. There is a multitude of passages so beautiful that I want to reread them several times.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel follows the life of the extremely talented violinist, Anna Maria, who was an orphan of the Ospedale della Pieta. The story is told through the perspective of the older Anne Marie looking back at her life at the age of 36 and letters written by Anna Maria at 14 to her unknown mother as instructed by Sister Laura because of Anna Marie's curiosity about her birth mother. The book also contains an historical note from the author as well as a very useful glossary in the back.
Anna Maria's quest for her origins as a fourteen year old as she develops and matures is one of the best coming of age stories I have read in historical fiction. I rooted for her as she struggled in her search and felt for her when she was set back out of the figlie di coro into the laundry. The story takes her far from the walls of the convent in which she grows up into both upper class Venetian society and a Jewish ghetto, but in a believable manner, despite her various adventures - the book never suspended credulity for me. Decadent early eighteenth century Venice was brought to life in really well in the novel. The language is used superbly and for me this is one of the most beautifully written historical fiction books I have come across.
I first read this book as a teenager, and it had lost none of its appeal when I revisited it as an adult. It brought a sense of the life in the Ospedale della Pieta stunningly to life, and I felt a real connection with the characters. While there are lovers and love affairs in the story, the main themes of the books revolve around the female relations, especially the bond between mothers and daughters, which was fitting as much of the action takes place inside the Ospedale della Pieta, a woman only environment as the boys were sent away when young to lean a trade. The contrasted of Anne Marie's narrative at 14 and 36 fitted together seamlessly, never felling clunky. The cast of characters all came to life in vivid colour. I especially enjoyed all of Anna Marie's friends as they shared their various plans or schemes for leaving the Pieta and as they made their mistakes, especially as I followed Marietta on her scheme to rise from her origins via a rich elite husband whilst become an famous opera singer and felt for poor Giuletta with her doomed love affair. It was a great portrait of female friendships and the scenes between Anna Marie, Giuletta, Marietta and Claudia resonated with me throughout the book. It was also a good picture of female rivalry - the scene between Anna Marie and La Befana on the top of the tower in Torcello had my heart in my mouth. Vivaldi was well fleshed out as a man with real pit falls and temptations through Anne Marie's eyes as well as the brilliance of his musical genius.
This is a book that would appeal to a very wide varied audience and so I would highly recommend this novel and a beautiful and moving read.
Anna Maria's quest for her origins as a fourteen year old as she develops and matures is one of the best coming of age stories I have read in historical fiction. I rooted for her as she struggled in her search and felt for her when she was set back out of the figlie di coro into the laundry. The story takes her far from the walls of the convent in which she grows up into both upper class Venetian society and a Jewish ghetto, but in a believable manner, despite her various adventures - the book never suspended credulity for me. Decadent early eighteenth century Venice was brought to life in really well in the novel. The language is used superbly and for me this is one of the most beautifully written historical fiction books I have come across.
I first read this book as a teenager, and it had lost none of its appeal when I revisited it as an adult. It brought a sense of the life in the Ospedale della Pieta stunningly to life, and I felt a real connection with the characters. While there are lovers and love affairs in the story, the main themes of the books revolve around the female relations, especially the bond between mothers and daughters, which was fitting as much of the action takes place inside the Ospedale della Pieta, a woman only environment as the boys were sent away when young to lean a trade. The contrasted of Anne Marie's narrative at 14 and 36 fitted together seamlessly, never felling clunky. The cast of characters all came to life in vivid colour. I especially enjoyed all of Anna Marie's friends as they shared their various plans or schemes for leaving the Pieta and as they made their mistakes, especially as I followed Marietta on her scheme to rise from her origins via a rich elite husband whilst become an famous opera singer and felt for poor Giuletta with her doomed love affair. It was a great portrait of female friendships and the scenes between Anna Marie, Giuletta, Marietta and Claudia resonated with me throughout the book. It was also a good picture of female rivalry - the scene between Anna Marie and La Befana on the top of the tower in Torcello had my heart in my mouth. Vivaldi was well fleshed out as a man with real pit falls and temptations through Anne Marie's eyes as well as the brilliance of his musical genius.
This is a book that would appeal to a very wide varied audience and so I would highly recommend this novel and a beautiful and moving read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
40 reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Vivaldi's Virgins: The coming of age of Vivaldi's violinist
3 July 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Vivaldi's Virgins is a coming of age story set in 18th century Venice utilizing and transforming a literary form popular during that era. As a violinist, the narrator allows the reader to experience the richness of Vivaldi's music from a perspective unavailable today to modern listeners. Barbara Quick presents a vivid image of 18th century Venice and Vivaldi through the eyes and life of the narrator Anna Maria. An orphan in the cloistered halls of the Ospedale della Pieta, Anna Maria dal Violin has been handpicked at an early age to join the elite musical group within the foundling home and be taught by the maestro Vivaldi. Although cloistered within the Pieta, the reader learns of Venice through those who come to visit the Pieta and through the tours and secret escapes of the curious girls.
Barbara Quick's novel removes the masks so carefully worn by the upper strata of Venice society. Vivaldi is seen through the eyes of his students and musicians. Vivaldi's Virgins is a combination of first person narrative in which Anna Maria tells her life story and an epistolary novel 'a novel told through letters', a genre emerging in popularity during the 18th century. As a disciplinary measure, Sister Laura instructs Anna Maria to write to calm Anna Maria's growing passion. She writes letters to her unknown mother never knowing whether they will be read nor by whom. Anna Maria lies hidden and almost invisible, living behind a grille from the public. Barbara Quick's novel removes the grille and allows the reader to peer inside the life of this 18th century woman who cries out for her mother and makes Vivaldi's genius heard by his public. Anna Maria dal Violin is the body and the violin through which Vivaldi's music is heard. Images of the voice of the violin and the voice of a child's body maturing merge with the search for her mother and her prayers to the Virgin Mother. A special plot twist at the end will delight all readers. This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers: those craving something of literary beauty, Vivaldi and classical music lovers, women wanting to experience history through the eyes of the women who lived it but for whom history rarely relates their story, and anyone wanting to peek into the lesser known history of Venice or music.
In the tradition of Dante Alighieri and his letters to Beatrice also written without certainty that they would ever be read by the intended reader, Barbara Quick cites this medieval reference, combining it with the 18th century epistolary novel and modernizes both. Although a reader need no knowledge of these literary traditions to enjoy this novel, the thoroughness of the author's research heightens the reading pleasure. The historical detail is well researched and the fictional imagination is breathtaking. The poetic language of each sentence is exquisite. Although I am a fast reader, I found myself reading slowly, creeping actually, but pausing on each page to savor its beauty and poetic prose. It has been 17 years since my graduate studies in literature and I thought I had finally conquered my terrible habit of writing in my books. After reading ten pages of Barbara Quick's Vivaldi's Virgins, I broke down and wrote in the book and continued to the end, rereading each line as I underlined. There is a multitude of passages so beautiful that I want to reread them several times.
Barbara Quick's novel removes the masks so carefully worn by the upper strata of Venice society. Vivaldi is seen through the eyes of his students and musicians. Vivaldi's Virgins is a combination of first person narrative in which Anna Maria tells her life story and an epistolary novel 'a novel told through letters', a genre emerging in popularity during the 18th century. As a disciplinary measure, Sister Laura instructs Anna Maria to write to calm Anna Maria's growing passion. She writes letters to her unknown mother never knowing whether they will be read nor by whom. Anna Maria lies hidden and almost invisible, living behind a grille from the public. Barbara Quick's novel removes the grille and allows the reader to peer inside the life of this 18th century woman who cries out for her mother and makes Vivaldi's genius heard by his public. Anna Maria dal Violin is the body and the violin through which Vivaldi's music is heard. Images of the voice of the violin and the voice of a child's body maturing merge with the search for her mother and her prayers to the Virgin Mother. A special plot twist at the end will delight all readers. This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers: those craving something of literary beauty, Vivaldi and classical music lovers, women wanting to experience history through the eyes of the women who lived it but for whom history rarely relates their story, and anyone wanting to peek into the lesser known history of Venice or music.
In the tradition of Dante Alighieri and his letters to Beatrice also written without certainty that they would ever be read by the intended reader, Barbara Quick cites this medieval reference, combining it with the 18th century epistolary novel and modernizes both. Although a reader need no knowledge of these literary traditions to enjoy this novel, the thoroughness of the author's research heightens the reading pleasure. The historical detail is well researched and the fictional imagination is breathtaking. The poetic language of each sentence is exquisite. Although I am a fast reader, I found myself reading slowly, creeping actually, but pausing on each page to savor its beauty and poetic prose. It has been 17 years since my graduate studies in literature and I thought I had finally conquered my terrible habit of writing in my books. After reading ten pages of Barbara Quick's Vivaldi's Virgins, I broke down and wrote in the book and continued to the end, rereading each line as I underlined. There is a multitude of passages so beautiful that I want to reread them several times.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
a beautiful novel full of music and longing
8 July 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Ospedale della Pieta in early 18th century Venice was a home for foundling girls, the most musical of whom were trained as orchestra members or singers. Strictly cloistered from the world, they performed for the cream of Venice in their church while remaining hidden from view. The adolescent girls, who long for knowledge of their parents, discover friendship, desperate crushes, young sensuality, and the depths of music. The great composer Vivaldi wrote some of his most gorgeous music for them and taught them and the portrait the author draws of him is vivid and unforgettable.
Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria is his prize violin student. Encouraged by one of the nuns to write longing letters to the mother whose name she does not even know, she dares to break the strict rules to find her heritage and meet with a young man. As her three closest friends each in turn escape the sexless confines of the Ospedale where music is the only sensuality allowed, she too becomes more desperate and daring, riding out masked at night in a gondola for music and for love.
The writing evokes Venice and the love of music and the longing of young girls so beautifully! I read some passages with tears in my eyes. At one point when music may be lost to Anna Maria forever, it was so poignant I had to put the book down a few times. Like a previous reviewer, I marked many passages to read again. Some sentences I had to reread several times before going on. They were truly music.
I am the author of the Viking Penguin novel MARRYING MOZART.
Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria is his prize violin student. Encouraged by one of the nuns to write longing letters to the mother whose name she does not even know, she dares to break the strict rules to find her heritage and meet with a young man. As her three closest friends each in turn escape the sexless confines of the Ospedale where music is the only sensuality allowed, she too becomes more desperate and daring, riding out masked at night in a gondola for music and for love.
The writing evokes Venice and the love of music and the longing of young girls so beautifully! I read some passages with tears in my eyes. At one point when music may be lost to Anna Maria forever, it was so poignant I had to put the book down a few times. Like a previous reviewer, I marked many passages to read again. Some sentences I had to reread several times before going on. They were truly music.
I am the author of the Viking Penguin novel MARRYING MOZART.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
"Whether or not we grow old, we all die young here."
3 July 2007
Format:Hardcover
A baby girl is delivered to a foundling home, Ospedale della Pieta in Venice in the early 18th century. The Pieta is a sanctuary not only for foundlings but an academy for talented musicians under the tutelage of Antonio Vivaldi, the "red priest". By the time she is eight years old, Anna Maria dal Violin has been noticed by the master, included in his coveted group of students. Since her childhood, Anna Maria has searched for her identity, traveling in this pursuit beyond the cloistered walls into Venetian society, through the Jewish ghetto, to a masked ball and an opera, escaping for a time the structured communal world of the convent into the great spectacle of Venice. Each year since her fourteenth birthday, the girl has written a letter to the mother she has never known, sharing her life behind the convent walls and the music of the master, the precious gift of her own talent as it matures under Vivaldi's instruction.
Isolating the very formative adolescent years of Anna Maria's sojourn at the Pieta, the author reconstructs her quest for her mother, her unceasing diligence and the tumultuous years of her young life, when a dedication to her music defines her every waking moment. Nevertheless, Anna Maria maintains a constant vigil, hoarding the bits of evidence that come her way: "The cracks between the puzzle pieces tell as much a story as the pieces themselves." As reflected in her letters during this period, the spirited Anna Maria is easily seduced by the magic of Vivaldi's compositions and the designs of her friends as they seek their own paths in a world beyond the community. The answers are never obvious, more often than not obscure information that seems to bear no relevance to her life. But Anna Maria is nothing if not patient, the discipline and rituals of convent life the construct of daily existence.
There are tantalizing views of the republic in its final years; months of ribald carnival balls, parties where revelers wear ornate masks to conceal their identities; the dark corridors of the Jewish ghetto, wherein lies a crucial clue to Anna Maria's family ties; the excesses of young women cloistered from the world, yearning to participate in an excitement they are denied; and the petty resentments and faithful alliances within the community, where one cruel teacher blights the days of her students and another, infinitely kind, teaches Anna Maria the rudiments of survival; finally the genius of Vivaldi, who becomes Anna Maria's teacher and remains friend and mentor until the end, celebrating his gifted student's skill, the notes of her violin akin to the voices of angels.
Although she lives well into her eighties, it is the critical years of her search that define the novel, a quiet, desperate search to learn who delivered her to the Pieta, her daydreams and vivid imaginings finally bearing fruit thanks to perseverance and the kindness of others. In a poignant piece of Venetian history, the world inside the cloistered walls of the Pieta is revealed, all the more fascinating for its comparison with the debauchery of the city. Ultimately, it is the music inspired by Vivaldi's genius that endures, the sweet notes that buoy up a sometimes flagging spirit, comforting a woman with no ties to the world save her music. Luan Gaines/2007.
Isolating the very formative adolescent years of Anna Maria's sojourn at the Pieta, the author reconstructs her quest for her mother, her unceasing diligence and the tumultuous years of her young life, when a dedication to her music defines her every waking moment. Nevertheless, Anna Maria maintains a constant vigil, hoarding the bits of evidence that come her way: "The cracks between the puzzle pieces tell as much a story as the pieces themselves." As reflected in her letters during this period, the spirited Anna Maria is easily seduced by the magic of Vivaldi's compositions and the designs of her friends as they seek their own paths in a world beyond the community. The answers are never obvious, more often than not obscure information that seems to bear no relevance to her life. But Anna Maria is nothing if not patient, the discipline and rituals of convent life the construct of daily existence.
There are tantalizing views of the republic in its final years; months of ribald carnival balls, parties where revelers wear ornate masks to conceal their identities; the dark corridors of the Jewish ghetto, wherein lies a crucial clue to Anna Maria's family ties; the excesses of young women cloistered from the world, yearning to participate in an excitement they are denied; and the petty resentments and faithful alliances within the community, where one cruel teacher blights the days of her students and another, infinitely kind, teaches Anna Maria the rudiments of survival; finally the genius of Vivaldi, who becomes Anna Maria's teacher and remains friend and mentor until the end, celebrating his gifted student's skill, the notes of her violin akin to the voices of angels.
Although she lives well into her eighties, it is the critical years of her search that define the novel, a quiet, desperate search to learn who delivered her to the Pieta, her daydreams and vivid imaginings finally bearing fruit thanks to perseverance and the kindness of others. In a poignant piece of Venetian history, the world inside the cloistered walls of the Pieta is revealed, all the more fascinating for its comparison with the debauchery of the city. Ultimately, it is the music inspired by Vivaldi's genius that endures, the sweet notes that buoy up a sometimes flagging spirit, comforting a woman with no ties to the world save her music. Luan Gaines/2007.
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