The Venice Sketchbook: A Novel

Product Information

In 2001 Caroline’s husband has taken their 6 year old son to New York to spend the summer with him and his new girlfriend. Then the twin towers terrorist hit happened and suddenly the boy is traumatised and cannot travel. Meanwhile Great Aunt Lettie is ailing and calls for Caroline who takes leave from her job and races to her aunt’s side. Aunt Lettie is on her deathbed but manages to give Caroline a garbled message and three odd keys and tells her to go to Venice. This is not a genre I read very often (historical/WWII fiction) or even enjoy very much but there are exceptions, and the fact that it was largely set in Venice called to me. I was born and raised in England but currently divide my time between California and Arizona where I go to escape from the harsh California winters Die junge Kunstlehrerin Juliet reist 1938 nach Venedig, wo sie endlich ihre große Liebe Leonardo wiedersieht. Dessen adlige Familie missbilligt die Verbindung, doch nichts kann sie trennen – bis der Krieg Venedig erreicht und sie gezwungen sind, zu kämpfen und ein Geheimnis zu schützen, das sie für immer aneinander bindet. Love and secrets collide in Venice during WWII in an enthralling novel of brief encounters and lasting romance by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and Above the Bay of Angels.

The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen | Goodreads The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen | Goodreads

The descriptions of Venice in both the 1928-44 and 2001 timelines are beautiful. Englishwoman Juliet Browning visits Venice with her aunt in 1928 and then she visits again in 1938 and 1939. Each time, she meets and spends time with wealthy nobleman Leonardo Da Rossi. Leo's path in life has been set since he was young, so there can never be a permanent relationship between Juliet and Leo but they will always be connected because of their actions in 1939. Much later, in 2001, on her deathbed, Juliet utters the word Venice to her great niece, Caroline. In a box, left to her by her aunt, Caroline finds a sketchbook and three keys. Off Caroline goes to Venice, in search of what her great aunt was trying to tell her. Q: You've written over 40 books, many of them mysteries for which you've won multiple awards -- Congratulations on your success as an author! What made you switch over to stand-alone historical fiction? Overall, it’s a really mixed bag. The premise is good, parts of Juliet’s story are interesting but on the whole story is thin. I had the feeling the author wants to transport herself from her Covid bubble and grabbed a much thumbed Baedeker guide to Venice and bobs your aunt Hortense or Lettie. I don’t dislike the book by any means though I don’t think I’ll remember it and so my rating is in Switzerland with Lettie. A clever prologue referring to Romeo and Julietsets the stage for Bowen’s…diverting romantic adventure in Venice, complete with intrigue, mystery, and, woe…This novel’s engaging entertainment is enhanced by its dual time line that uncovers Juliet’s secrets, and a plot enlivened by coincidences and romance. A must-read for Bowen fans and historical fiction enthusiasts.” ― Library Journal(starred review) All that’s to say that it feels like parts of this story have been done before, and recently, and perhaps for this reader a bit of World War II historical fiction fatigue has set in. So I found this take on that historic conflict to be a bit too much like too many things I’ve read before, in spite of the change in setting.It’s 1938 when art teacher Juliet Browning arrives in romantic Venice. For her students, it’s a wealth of history, art, and beauty. For Juliet, it’s poignant memories and a chance to reconnect with Leonardo Da Rossi, the man she loves whose future is already determined by his noble family. However star-crossed, nothing can come between them. Until the threat of war closes in on Venice and they’re forced to fight, survive, and protect a secret that will bind them forever. There's also a big problem for me with the main 20th-century character, Juliet. She just doesn't seem to care, so I didn't care about her even though she really went through a lot. The 21st-century MC was pretty much Juliet Mark II, and the love interests were your standard Italian hunk x 2, all testosterone and la famiglia. Leo, frankly, is a bit of a shit in my opinion.

The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen | Goodreads

That being said, I did enjoy this story. There are parts that are predictable and parts that are not. There are parts that are possibly unreal and others that are more likely to have occurred. There were times I felt it was going into too much detail and other times when I was nervous for the characters. Key by key, Lettie’s life of impossible love, loss, and courage unfolds. It’s one that Caroline can now make right again as her own journey of self-discovery begins.

Pages

One piece of Caroline’s story that I felt a great deal of resonance for was the way that it intersected with 9/11 and its aftermath, both in the portrayal of how countries outside the US both viewed the tragedy and moved on, and the way that it impacted people who were not remotely close to the event. It echoed for a while for all of us, and that was captured well. Readers will enjoy the detailed descriptions provided by Bowen. She brings Venice to lifewith its amazing gondolas and canals, vaporetto, narrow streets, festivals, churches, art exhibitions, food, the colorful people, culture, and family ties.

The Venice Sketchbook: A Novel by Rhys Bowen, Paperback

Escape Rating B-: World War II is a rich period for historical fiction of all types and stripes. To the point where I have three books in a row that are set during the same period, Friday’s The Consequences of Fear, this book today, and tomorrow’s The Last Bookshop in London. This is also not the only book this year to be set in World War II Italy, the other being Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson, which is somewhere in my virtually towering TBR pile. In a duel story line, Juliet's great niece Caroline comes home to stay with her mother when her great aunt Juliet becomes I'll. Right before her great aunt passes she tells Caroline to go get a box with her name on it and to go to Venice. Caroline goes to Venice to take her great aunt's ashes. She searches for information on her great aunt during the war and uncovers a secret her great aunt took too her death. A: All of the festivals that take place are real. The Venetian tolerance for the Jews and then the brutal rounding up by the Germans are all real. The Contessa is typical of a patron of the arts at that time.

Pray For America

Rhys Bowen is the New York Timesbestselling author of more than forty novels, including Above the Bay of Angels, The Victory Garden, The Tuscan Child, and the World War II–based In Farleigh Field, the winner of the Macavity and Left Coast Crime Awards for Best Historical Mystery Novel and the Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery. Bowen’s work has won twenty honors to date, including multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. Her books have been translated into many languages, and she has fans around the world. A transplanted Brit, Bowen divides her time between California and Arizona.

Review: The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen Review: The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen

I'm a New York Times bestselling mystery author, winner of both Agatha and Anthony awards for my Molly Murphy mysteries, set in 1902 New York City. I am an avid fan of Rhys Bowen and have read tons of her books. The Venice Sketchbook seemed formulaic to me with a predictable plot and characters that we have run into time and time again. Lost loves and all that. World War II stories have almost taken over most readers' reading lists as of late. Don't get me wrong. The Venice Sketchbook is still a fine offering from the highly talented Rhys Bowen. Perhaps there is a certain weariness nowadays during these times that have suppressed our mobility and put a damper on our usual desire and zest for life. Perhaps we're searching for something more that catapults us into a different dimension.....far from the pain of the past and far from the shadows of today. Another dual time line story. This one is easy to follow as each chapter is headed up with the person, date and place.So this is a story I’m kind of on that painful fence about. I liked Caroline a lot, I ended up seeing Julietta as both heroic and incredibly naïve at the same time, and I wanted the 21st century story more than I did the historic one. Your mileage may vary, especially if you’ve not experienced the same kind of WW2 historical fiction fatigue or you’ve not read much about that period in Italy as opposed to the more usual settings of France or Britain.. Caroline’s story is not especially interesting and I find it detracts from Juliet’s which has much more meat on the bones. However, the pace of the book is that of a snail as we take a sllloooowww plod around Venice rather than whisking along at a brisk pace and there’s little excitement. There’s too much Venice, too much sustenance (is the author obsessed with food? On a diet and torturing herself? 😁) and not enough substance. We get a whiff of war, a scent of a love story but there’s not much depth to either. There’s little sense of danger during the German occupation of Italy and the ending should have been dynamite and instead is a briefly ignited Roman Candle. There’s a lot of coincidence, contrivance and plot convenience especially at the end. Talking of which, what an abrupt end - what are we meant to make of it? It’s like the storytelling ran out of steam. I have a fondness for dual timeline books so I was quite pleased to accept a copy of The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen thanks to TLC Book Tours. All opinions are my own.