VIVALDI'S VIRGINS

Author: Barbara Quick ISBN: 0060890525 7/2007 HISTORICAL FICTION Publisher: WM MORROW
Time Period: 18th Century, Venice, Italy

Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pietà 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; f rom 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.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Have you ever read a book that you truly, truly hated to see end? I know you must have. That's exactly how I felt about VIVALDI'S VIRGINS by Barbara Quick. I hated to feel the pages dwindling in my hands, hated knowing the adventure would soon be over. This book was that excellent.

Set in Venice in the 1700s, this is a rich, lush tale of love, a hauntingly sweet journey of discovery that is filled with unexpected revelations at every turn. Anna Maria was abandoned as an infant, and has longed to know who she is and where she's from. She's one of the talented musicians who is taught by Antonio Vivaldi, but without roots, Anna Maria seems untethered. Through a series of events that take her outside the cloistered walls she's accustomed to, she learns not only where she comes from, but where she's going.

Venice is portrayed so beautifully, it is a character in its own right in this novel. The mysteries of Carnival season, undying devotion of musicians to the notes and the red-headed maestro, make this story leap from the page. I felt my heart lurch every time Anna Maria was chastised, and felt it sing when she found success on the path to self-discovery. This is a complex tale, one that I was completely absorbed by. Lovers of Italian history will especially adore this novel, but anyone with a longing to "see" a time long past and feel the hopes and dreams of someone who's been abandoned will enjoy this. Barbara Quick has written a beautiful story, one that I know I'll read over and over again.

Kay James