This was a free offering from Laura for signing up to her newsletter when i got to the end of The Gondola Maker.

As shorts go it’s a good well written piece in much the same style as The Gondola Maker at around the same time and place.

My only gripe is that i wanted more — which is a complement.   It would certainly have made a great first chapter to a much more deeper look into Venice, and Europe, at the time of the Black Death.

Although Laura’s thing is art, so she’s probably not planning to write a full novel on bubonic plague.

Anyways, i’m looking forward to getting around to reading The Painter’s Apprentice in the not too distant.   I’m definitely a fan of Laura’s Venice.   More please!

Laura’s Page

#venice #lauramorelli

I’ve never been to Venice and other than, “It’s got canals”, i know nothing about the place, so i can genuinely say that any knowledge of Venice is not required to enjoy this book.

Our protagonist, Luca, is the oldest son of one of Venice’s finest gondola makers, and when he completely burns his bridges (literally) on his future at his family’s squero he is left homeless and penniless.   Refusing to leave the city he needs to find a way to survive and rebuild his life.

We then follow Luca’s ups and downs as he takes the reader on a journey around 16th century Venice through every layer of life.

It’s certainly not a book of twists and turns and subplots and stuff, it’s really quite a simple story.   But it is a wonderfully written story that gives the reader a real feel of life in historical Venice from the view of the working gondoliers and those they interact with that make this book so compelling.

Next up, ‘Bridge of Sighs’, a little short by Laura from this Venice of the past.

Laura’s Page

#venice #lauramorelli