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Library Aisles
- architecture
- art
- boats
- book about books
- classic
- crime
- essays
- fiction
- food
- ghosts
- graphic novel
- Henry James
- historical fiction
- history
- in translation
- italiano
- music
- non-fiction
- novella
- passing through
- personal favorite
- poetry
- psychological
- romance
- Ruskin
- short story
- supernatural
- thriller
- travel
- Venezia (book in Italian)
- Vivaldi
- written by a woman
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Stabat Mater, di Tiziano Scarpa
VENICE-O-METER 7Historical novel set in Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà orphanage for girls (see the Reading Venice Map), and focusing on the interactions between the institution’ most famous composer, Vivaldi, and the young women who played his music.…
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Vivaldi’s Virgins, by Barbara Quick
VENICE-O-METER 7Historical novel set in Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà orphanage for girls, and focusing on the interactions between the institution’ most famous composer, Vivaldi, and the young women who played his music.
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The Aspern Papers, by Henry James
VENICE-O-METER 8Psychological novella set in Venice Henry James is an author I always wanted to love but really struggled with — until I read The Aspern Papers. It opened up James to me. It’s also…
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La lunga attesa dell’angelo, di Melania G. Mazzucco
VENICE-O-METER 9Powerful historical novel narrated by the painter Il Tintoretto on his deathbed The title of the novel is a line from the Italian translation of “Black Rook in Rainy Weather,” by Sylvia Plath.…
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Lavinia fuggita, di Anna Banti
VENICE-O-METER 8Historical short story set in Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà orphanage for girls, and focusing on the interactions between the institution’ most famous composer, Vivaldi, and the young women who played his music. If this…
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Il segreto nello sguardo, di Valentina Casarotto
VENICE-O-METER 8Historical novel inspired by the biography of Venetian rococo artist Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757). This may be a novel but it refers to many real-life locations, pinpointed on the Reading Venice Map.
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Territorial Rights, by Muriel Spark
VENICE-O-METER 8Novel set (mostly) in 1970’s Venice The actual locations mentioned in the novel can be found on the Reading Venice map, and are discussed in a scholarly fashion in Tomás Monterrey’s paper “Scenic and…
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“Ganymede” in The Breaking Point, by Daphne du Maurier
VENICE-O-METER 9Tragicomic short story set in Venice Unlike in du Maurier’s “Don’t Look Now,” whose exquisitely detailed Venetian topography was what led me to start this website, “Ganymede” sticks to well-trodden locations in Venice (the…
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L’amante senza fissa dimore, di Carlo Fruttero e Franco Lucentini
VENICE-O-METER 9Zany novel set in Venice, and weaving elements of mystery and romance in a truly fun and engaging way. Similarly, its geography of Venice blurs the line between imagination and reality, with locations…
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The Garden of Angels, by David Hewson
VENICE-O-METER 9Historical thriller set in Venice, both during WW2 and in the late 1990’s This page-turner allows you to learn a lot about Venice under German occupation during WW2 — and about the production of…
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La sindone del diavolo, di Giulio Leoni
VENICE-O-METER 7Bloated historical novel set in 14th century Venice, marketed as “un’indagine di Dante Alighieri” (that’s right, Dante Alighieri investigates), though plot doesn’t really involve an actual crime-related investigation. Ironically, the character of Dante…
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Vipere a San Marco, di Paolo Forcellini
VENICE-O-METER 8Preposterous crime novel whose plot is rooted in a puzzling faith in both the local police and, even more laughably, the local press. The only female character is never mentioned without a nod…
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The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin
VENICE-O-METER 8Historical detective novel set in 1840’s Venice “The Venetians are traders, Yashim. Everything in Venice is for sale.” “So this is Venice,” Palweski muttered […] “How ghastly” One of the highlights of my life…
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A Beautiful Crime, by Christopher Bollen
VENICE-O-METER 8Crime novel set in Venice I admire Zadie Smith mostly as a voracious, omnivorous reader, and often find our favorites overlap. In a feature in The Guardian, she listed Christopher Bollen as a master…
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The Medici Murders, by David Hewson
VENICE-O-METER 9Crime novel set in both current-day and 16th century Venice Why, yes, we are aware that the Medici were a Florentine family. But there is a Venice connection — what scholar Stefano Dall’Aglio…
Reading Venice 