The Venetian mask / by Rosalind Laker.

Title :

The Venetian mask

Author:

Laker, Rosalind.

Format:

Books

Summary:

From the author of To Dance with Kings, here is a lush new novel of romance and adventure set against the background of dazzling pageantry and tarnished splendor that was eighteenth-century Venice. Although the glorious Venetian City State is still an exciting and glamorous center for arts and culture, it is by this time past its prime. And it is not only decadent but dangerous. Violence hides behind the fanciful masks that Venetians wear to disguise their identity:

women are in thrall to their husbands...and life is cheap in "the brothel of Europe." In the heart of this rich and rolling city stands the Ospedale della Pieta, a renowned music conservatory for orphaned girls. And within its cloistered walls three children meet and become lifelong friends. Adrianna, the oldest, who gives up a glamorous operatic career to marry a Venetian maskmaker, becomes the solid base of their triangle. Elena, bright, blond, and vivacious, is

betrothed to one of the rich and powerful Celano family, while the titian-haired, golden-voiced Marietta weds a Torrisi, sworn enemy of the Celanos. As a result, she and Elena are forbidden to see or speak to each other. Yet, with Adrianna acting as go-between, their friendship endures. Through illicit births, violent deaths, personal vendettas, and political plots, the "Pieta girls" support one another and even, literally, save one another's lives. Filled with all the

passion and richness of detail that have made Rosalind Lake's novels so popular, The Venetian Mask will sweep its readers into another time and place.

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

0385421907

Physical Description:

422 pages ; 22 cm

Subject:

Venice (Italy) -- History -- Fiction.

Historical fiction.

Love stories.

Fiction.

First Title value, for Searching:

The Venetian mask / by Rosalind Laker.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Adult	Open Stacks Fiction	Open Stacks book	LAKER	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Enduring friendships and long-held vendettas come alive against the splendor and decadence of eighteenth-century Venice. In 1775 Venice--known to outsiders as "the brothel of Europe"--the tradition of mask-wearing has allowed adultery and debauchery to flourish. But Marietta and Elena, two friends at the Ospedale della Pieta, a world-famous orphanage and music school for girls, know little of that milieu--until they come of age. Elena is forced to wed the head of the Celano clan, a jealous, brutal man, while Marietta marries Domenico Torrisi, whose family vendetta with the Celanos is centuries old. Tradition dictates that the friends should never speak again, but their bond is too strong to break. As the French Revolution unsettles all of Europe, Elena's husband frames Domenico and he becomes a political prisoner. Marietta and Elena plot to save him, and the women discover that Venetian masks have noble purposes, too--but will their efforts put their own lives at risk? Embodying the glitter and the treachery of the city it portrays, The Venetian Mask will keep you turning pages long into the night.

Author Notes

Barbara Ovstedal was born on October 3, 1921 in Bognor Regis. She wrote a few romances under the pseudonym Barbara Paul, but changed to Rosalind Laker when Barbara Paul gained recognition. Her books included Sovereign's Key, Far Seeks the Heart, Warwyck's Woman, The Venetian Mask, Circle of Pearls, The Fragile Hour, and The Golden Tulip.

Under her own name, Ovstedal has written a travel book about Norway, as well as several novels, including Red Cherry Summer, Valley of the Reindeer, and Souvenir of Sweden. She died on November 23, 2012 at the age of 91.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

YA-- Raised together at a famous Venetian orphanage for musically gifted children, three talented girls form enduring friendships that see them through difficult times. Laker brings to life both the fun of masquerading in the Venice of the 1780s and the treachery of its feuds. Elena, Marietta, and, later, their husbands are particularly well drawn as readers see either their good dispositions or their evil natures develop. Fewer details are given about Adrianna, the third girl. She is less significant to the plot, but she provides the important link between the other two. The story progresses at a fast pace. The family feud that separates the women after their marriages becomes more serious and suspense builds on each page. Despite some unrealistic events, this is a well-written, well-researched, very entertaining story.-- Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Eighteenth-century Venice, ``the brothel of Europe,'' makes a perfect backdrop for this outstanding historical romance by genre veteran Laker ( The Golden Tulip , etc.). At the Ospedale della Pieta, a famous music school for orphaned girls, Marietta Fontana and Elena Baccini begin a lifelong friendship. Elena is forced to marry Filippo, scion of the powerful Celano family; Marietta weds the mysterious and handsome Domenico Torrisi, a wealthy widower and sworn enemy of the Celanos. But the young women continue their relationship, and when Elena secretly bears the child of a man she truly loves, she relinquishes the infant to be raised by Marietta, who is grieving over the death of her own baby. Domenico is jailed on charges trumped up by the unscrupulous Filippo, but Marietta and Elena search for years for evidence to free him. Although rich with memorable characters and plot, the story is almost secondary to the splendid setting in a city of masks, hidden intentions and sinister complications. Laker has a marvelous gift for evoking atmosphere with assiduously researched, intriguing details which she places throughout a genuinely exciting narrative. A cut above most writers in her genre, the British Laker has written what may be her breakthrough book on these shores. ( Jan. ) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Review

More old-fashioned historical romance from Laker (The Golden Tulip, etc. etc.), this time set in Venice just before Napoleon forces the declining republic to its knees. Laker's latest tale of high jinks, love, and woe stars an orphan girl named Marietta, raised in Venice's Ospedale della Pietà, an asylum for abandoned girlchildren famous for its choir. Marietta's best friend at the Ospedale is Elena, who sings almost as beautifully as Marietta does--but the carefully guarded foundlings grow as nervous as fillies as they come of age and begin to be exposed to the color, excitement, and licentiousness of the city at concerts where they perform. Marietta falls in love with Alix Desgrange, though the relationship is nipped in the bud by a widow who wants the young Frenchman for herself. Meanwhile, Elena is engaged to the scion of the Celano family (Venetian top dogs) but is forced to marry his cold younger brother, Filippo, when fiancé number one suddenly dies. That makes things tough for the bosom friends, since Marietta's eventually chosen by Domenico Torrisi. The Torrisi and Celano clans have been wrangling with each other for centuries, and, of course, the ladies get caught in the vendetta--with Elena attempting to prove that her husband masterminded a plot against Signor Torrisi and Marietta rescuing her friend from Signor Celano, who's been trying to do her in. Laker's usual sanitized kind of history, with a fairy tale for postpubescent girls imposed on top. But her characters are spunky and her plot satisfies, even if it doesn't describe the character behind La Serenissima's mask in anything other than the most simplistic terms.

Booklist Review

Laker has the historical romance down cold. In her sixteenth, she spins a successfully readable tale set in late-eighteenth-century Venice. The novel's central characters are three women who meet and become lifelong friends in the Ospedale della Pieta, Venice's renowned musical conservatory for orphaned girls. Against all odds, the three women suffer to preserve the lasting ties between them. Elena, betrothed to nobleman Marco Celano, is forced to marry Marco's jealous brother, Filippo, when, days before the wedding, Marco is stricken with fever and dies; Marietta later marries Domenico Torrisi, the sworn enemy of Filippo Celano, and she and Elena are forbidden to see one another; Adrianna, the oldest, is the critical link and, for years, arranges clandestine meetings between the friends. Doses of tyranny, adventure, merriment, and sentimentalism are tastefully sprinkled throughout. An enjoyable sojourn to another time and place. ~--Kerri Kilbane