The Gondola Maker

 
Review of The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli:


Overview from www.goodreads.com: In 16th-century Venice, the heir to a family boatyard rejects his destiny but is drawn to restore an old gondola with the dream of taking a girl for a ride.

Venice, 1581
Luca Vianello is the heir to the city’s most esteemed gondola-making family. But when an accidental tragedy strikes the boatyard, Luca believes his true calling lies elsewhere. Readers will appreciate the authentic details of gondola craftsmanship along with a captivating tale of artisanal tradition and family bonds set in one of the world’s most magnificent settings: Renaissance Venice.

My Review:

Okay, finally I am back. I hope no one missed me too much. I had hoped to be back last weekend but I was still too tired from my recent adventures.

This week I am excited to be finally reviewing The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli. I had already read an advanced released copy that she had sent out when she asked for help from her readers for some last minute editing and was anxious to see if anything had changed. Now that I have read it, I am not sure if I am remembering everything correctly since a lot has happened in the few months that have passed since I read it.

Our main character is one Luca Vianello, apprentice gondola maker in his father’s Venetian workshop. The story unfolds as Luca’s first person account so we see it only through his eyes. Fortunately he is an engaging story teller.

There is a bit of foreshadowing with the burning of the gondola that Luca has come to watch at the beginning. It got my attention because it stood in stark contrast to my previous impressions of the Venetian Republic as place of freedom for those who might be free in other Italian domains.

But the gondola-burning hints that perhaps Venice is not as free as I thought. A place where even a boat must pay the price of the crimes committed by its owner cannot be that free. The incident also sets the tone of the story very well.

Luca has a decent life, a chance at being someone of note in his future profession. That all changes one day with the death of his mother when he accidentally sets fire to their workshop. It is an accident, but who will believe him?

Fearing he will be accused of arson or worse, he leaves home and vows to find a way to make it on his own. Yet he cannot bear to leave Venice.

He does well on his own, eventually earning a position of respect as the gondolier for a respected Venetian painter. That is where he first encounters her, the woman who will throw his life out of balance, the unattainable Giuliana Zanchi.

Soon Luca finds himself working for the young girl also and slowly learning her story. Her life too, has been turned upside down. He understands her but can he trust her?

The story is not a conventional one but I didn’t lose interest. The main character is well-drawn and not clichéd in any way. I can’t recall many stories that I have ever read about skilled Venetian craftsmen who have fallen out with their families. And the ending was something of a surprise. It also seems to leave room for a potential sequel. Well, I can hope, anyway.

And although they are details about the art of gondola making, they don’t overwhelm the story. Unlike the author, I am not an art historian, but I don’t get bored.

It is also clear that the author knows Venice very well. I don’t understand how she manages to pull that off but she does and that makes all the more realistic. I just visited there recently and I would be hard pressed to tell you where anything was. It just seemed like a maze of gondolas, tourists, pretty bridges, and water. A beautiful maze but a maze nonetheless.

The only downside to this story for me was the lack of back story that was in the pre-edited copy of the book (at least I think I remember something about it) about the costume maker that Luca visits and how she built the business on her own after her husband left her. I liked that part and now it is gone but I guess it was because it was back story that didn’t relate to the main story. Still I was sad to see it go.

I think though that overall this was a great piece of Historical Fiction that really opened my eyes to a world I hadn’t considered before. I hope that my readers will enjoy it as well.

Contains: mild profanity (but no F bombs thank God) and illusions to prostitution

Captive Queen

Review of Captive Queen by Alison Weir


Overview from www.bn.com: Nearing her thirtieth birthday, Eleanor of Aquitaine has spent the past dozen frustrating years as wife to the pious King Louis VII of France. But when Henry of Anjou, the young and dynamic future king of England, arrives at the French court, he and the seductive Eleanor experience a mutual passion powerful enough to ignite the world. Indeed, after the annulment of Eleanor’s marriage to Louis and her remarriage to Henry, the union of this royal couple creates a vast empire that stretches from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees—and marks the beginning of the celebrated Plantagenet dynasty. But Henry and Eleanor’s marriage, charged with physical heat, begins a fiery downward spiral marred by power struggles and bitter betrayals. Amid the rivalries and infidelities, the couple’s rebellious sons grow impatient for power, and the scene is set for a vicious and tragic conflict that will threaten to engulf them all.

My Review:

Wow, another long book. I sure hope the next book isn’t this long. I have however, once again, returned to fiction. This one about Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is called Captive Queen, written by Alison Weir who I believe is a famous historian over there on the other side of the pond. The novel covers a large period of Eleanor’s life though not all of it.


First I have to admit that I was tempted to stop reading this one after the first few chapters. If it had not been for Weir’s reputation, I most certainly would have. These chapters are quite bawdy and contain many f bombs, too many in my opinion. I have to say though that I am glad I didn’t give up on it because the tale is an interesting one and those elements do give the reader an idea of the sorts of persons both Eleanor and Henry were.


Upon finishing the book, I have to admit what amazed me most was just how long Eleanor lived. She was in her eighties on her death which must have been very unusual for the time period. And yet she seemed to have lived a very full life even if it was not entirely good. She made the best of her situation most of the time and didn’t seem to hesitate when it came to admitting her own faults.


In the novel, we start with the annulment of her first marriage to one of the Louis, king of France. It seems Eleanor is unhappy with this arrangement since her husband rarely visits her bed and would make a better monk than priest.


As she embarks on her next marriage to Henry, all seems well at first. They have a huge empire that stretches all the way to England when Henry inherits the crown from King Steven. But differences of opinion later separate them as Eleonor takes her sons’ part in the disagreement which will eventually land her in prison.


The story is probably worth checking out, particularly if you are interested in the lives of either Eleonor or Henry but keep in mind that is not entirely a happy one. Let me know what you think.


Side note: I will be going on vacation for a while so there will not be any new posts to this blog for a few weeks. Thank you for your understanding.

Unbroken

Review of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand


Overview from www.goodreads.com: On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.


The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

My Review:

Much like Louis (or Louie) Zamperini, the world around him was always on the move. As a young child of Italian immigrants, Louie was always in trouble. He liked to steal things and cause a general havoc wherever he went. He seemed destined for a mental hospital or worse but then his brother Pete had a great idea. Louie would become a runner. Pete trained him until he became one the best there were and for a while it seemed as though his troubles might be over but they were only just beginning.

Unbroken tells us the story of the first part, which I just summarized as well as what happened next. We have all heard the troubled kid makes good story before and usually when that kid turns himself around, the story ends.

But of course life goes on and so must Louie. He continues running at school, winning meet after meet. Then just when all seems lost he gets himself a spot on the 1936 Olympics, the same one where Jesse Owens won four gold medals.

After that one moment in the sun, war breaks out and Louie’s dreams are cut short when he goes off to the Pacific to fight. To say that he endured terrible things there would be a gross understatement. He survived a plane crash, being lost at sea on a raft for forty-seven days, and then the terrible horrors of a Japanese prison camp.

The same courage and stubbornness that got him in trouble with the law when he was young, that kept him going when he was floating out on a raft in the Pacific, gave him the courage to survive and defy the brutality of his Japanese soldiers. He just wouldn’t let go, give in or give up.

His incredible true story kept me on the edge of my seat. It also kept me wondering: How much more can this guy take?  When my father and I were discussing this book he told me that he too was thinking, “enough already.” What more can he go through?

This book has been made into a movie directed by Angelina Jolie though I have no idea when it will be released. I only hope that she does it justice. In the meantime, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. I guarantee it will make your problems seem small in comparison and encourage you to go forward. It did for me anyway.

Orphan Train

Review of Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline


Overview from www.bn.com: Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

My Review:

This book is part historical fiction and part semi-contemporary. (The contemporary part takes place in 2011.) It was suggested by someone who posts free books on the Barnes & Noble blog and sounded intriguing.

The story alternates between telling the experiences of Vivian Daly and Molly Ayer. We start off with Molly, a seventeen-year-old foster child who is defined mainly by her Goth persona, until she meets Jack.


When Molly is caught doing some unauthorized borrowing of the oldest of the three copies that the school’s library has of Jane Eyre, she is threatened with time in Juvie. But Jack has a plan. Molly will do some community service at Mrs. Vivian Daly’s house, helping her clean out her attic, in exchange for being spared from Juvie. Sounds like a good plan.


But then everything changes when Molly and the ninety-one year discover that they have more in common than they ever realized. Molly goes from foster home to foster home, trying to blend in while still keeping up with her vegetarian diet.


Vivian also got shuttle from home to home but her litany of bad experiences began just before the Great Depression with a ride on the “orphan train.” She too knows what is like to try to fit in and not complain—to feel like she has to apologize for whom she is and the burden that she has unwittingly placed on her caregivers.


The book seems to effortlessly weave these two women’s stories together. Not much has changed since Vivian rode the orphan train and was forced to reinvent herself. Like Molly, she has paid a heavy price just to survive and although she is successful now, she still remembers the time when she had nothing.


I liked this story a lot. I don’t think I would say I loved it but I really liked it. My favorite parts were mostly in Vivian’s story as I mostly identified with her. Though Molly was not as bad as her foster parents thought she was, she did have a bad attitude at times that made it harder for me to sympathize with her. Also the f-bombs were all mostly in the Molly part of the novel and that also turned me off to her character somewhat. Still, she didn’t deserve to be treated the way that Dina and some of the other adults had treated her.

I am recommending this story with the caveat that you want to avoid it if the f-bombs tend to bother you a lot. For me, it never got to the point where I stopped reading but I think someone who is very sensitive to them might be offended.

Contains: foul language, some sexuality (not all of it positive)

Leave No Stone Unturned

Review of Leave No Stone Unturned by Jeanne Glidewell


Overview from www.bn.com: Lexie Starr, a widowed library assistant, accidentally discovers her new son-in-law, Clay Pitt, may be guilty of murdering his first wife.

Then Lexie's daughter, Wendy, is abducted.

Vowing to bring Wendy home and unravel the truth about Clay, Lexie comes face-to-face with Clay's psychotic mother, a foul-mouthed parrot, a bad-tempered detective, a feisty old B&B proprietor, and a potential suitor.

My Review:

This one smacks of a self-published effort. That’s not a put down but if you look at the cover design don’t you automatically think self-published?


And now I have nearly done what this week’s author did. I have begun with a question and to me this was the strangest part of the book. The question in question (pun intended) is: “Should I warn my daughter that her husband could be a murderer, or go home and file my nails while I sip a cup of strong coffee?”


That first sentence struck me as strange along with the first few pages. However, I wanted to give the author a chance to hook me and she did, it just took a little while. So if you start this one, it is worth it to continue it.

But if you don’t think you can get past the strange beginning well, then that’s your loss. It is a great ride and it does get better.

Our protagonist is Lexie Starr, a widow in her late forties who, as the first line suggests, begins to suspect that her daughter’s new husband is a killer. Of course the fact that she never liked him to begin with has nothing to do with it, right? That’s what she tells us and herself, but she is determined to find out the truth, without telling a lie. Okay, scratch that. It turns out she is going to have to start lying and get good at it quick.

She starts by telling her daughter, Wendy, that she has met a man on the Internet who she wants to go meet to see if she likes him. Wendy is crazy with worry but at least she doesn’t know what Lexie is really doing and where she is (in New York and not South Carolina as she tells her).

By the time she starts talking to the detectives who originally worked the case she has become a writer working on a book or article about the story. And in another incarnation she is an exterminator who rides around in a Corvette.


But when Wendy is kidnapped the stakes are raised as well as Lexie’s doubts about the killer’s identity. Will she find the killer and her daughter before she becomes his next victim? Read and find out. I guarantee you won’t be bored, once you get past the first few pages anyway.

Contains: some language- very mild though

Love Thy Neighbor

Review of Love Thy Neighbor by Mark Gilleo


Overview from www.bn.com: Clark Hayden is a graduate student trying to help his mother navigate through the loss of his father while she continues to live in their house near Washington DC. With his mother’s diminishing mental capacity becoming the norm, Clark expects a certain amount of craziness as he heads home for the holidays. What he couldn’t possibly anticipate, though, is that he would find himself catapulted into the middle of the terrorist operation. As the holiday festivities reach a crescendo, a terrorist cell – which happens to be across the street – is activated. Suddenly Clark is discovering things he never knew about deadly chemicals, secret government operations, suspiciously missing neighbors, and the intentions of a gorgeous IRS auditor. Clark’s quiet suburban neighborhood is about to become one of the most deadly places on the planet, and it’s up to Clark to prevent the loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in the nation’s capital.

My Review:

I really don’t know where to start on this one. It is not a bad story but there were just several things that I didn’t like about it.


First off the title seems a bit misleading. It seems to suggest a Biblical story but the story itself is about a Muslim terrorist cell in residential neighborhood. Clark, our main character (at least I think that is who the author intended him to be), returns home from grad school to take over the care of his mother from a neighbor woman only to find that the neighbor who has been taking care of her while he was gone, might be a terrorist.


The main character is not very strong. This is the reason why I felt unsure as to who really was our main character. Was it Clark? Or the neighbor Ariana? If you reason that Ariana is “the bad guy (or is it girl),” then I suppose that would leave you with Clark. Yet every time someone crosses paths with Clark or Ariana we seem to suddenly shift to his or her POV until he or she comes into contact with one of them or sometimes even with another secondary character. In fact, there are so many new characters introduced throughout the novel that I had a hard time keeping track of them all.


Then there were the f-bombs. Too many of them in my opinion though I know I have read books with more of them but it seemed to be a bit too much.


Finally Clark struck me at times as being unlikable. He seemed to have some disrespect for his love interest and the fact that she forgave him for so many errors was not all that believable. But I guess the hero is always forgiven, even when he’s a jerk, just because he is the hero. I mean we see that Clark has a good side but it really doesn’t come out much in his relationship with the love interest and since she seems like a smart lady who doesn’t need him, why would she put up with that? It doesn’t make sense.

On the plus side, the story has an interesting premise. In the beginning the author explains how a residential address used by two 9-11 conspirators was reported by his own mother as a potential terrorist cell and was never even recorded by the FBI, or was it the CIA? The point seems to be that the author used this as a spring board for the plot of the book wondering what would have happened if someone were to follow up on an alleged terrorist cell living in suburbia.

And there is also plenty of action. The story was engaging, except where I got confused and mostly complex enough not to be trite. However because of the problems I mentioned earlier, I am not recommending this book.


Contains: foul language, violence

Wondrous Strange

Review of Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Overview from www.bn.com: Since the dawn of time, the Faerie have taken. . . .

Seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow always thought faeries were just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery. He's a changeling—a mortal taken as an infant and raised among Faerie—and within short order he's turned Kelley's heart inside out and her life upside down.

For Kelley's beloved Central Park isn't just a park—it's a gateway between her ordinary city and the Faerie's dangerous, bewitching Otherworld. Now Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her, but to the heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny both wondrous and strange.

My Review:

And I go off the path I have been on lately to review a story called Wondrous Strange which is part of a series of the same name. It is the first book in the series and is based loosely, I think, on Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I won’t go into the details of the Bard’s play, you’ll have to read that one for yourself if you’re interested, but most of the main characters are featured in this story. Because of the writer’s attempt to make it so the reader will not miss the fact that this story is connected with the Shakespeare play; the story is a little slow to start. We begin not with our opening action but instead with what are presumably are main character’s notes on the Shakespeare play which her theater group will perform in very off, off Broadway production.

This is actually the biggest negative for the book since it is the first thing that the reader sees when he or she gets past the Table of Contents and begins to read the story. I for one had no idea why I was being given a summary of Shakespeare’s play along with “Kelly’s notes.” I kept asking myself, what does this have to do with this book? Who the heck is Kelly and why should I care about her notes? I actually thought of quitting right then and there but thought I should at least give the author some time to make her point.

I am sure glad that I did because overall it is a really good story. I then discovered that Kelly is the main character. She is a young girl who is following her dream of being an actress. Cliché, I know but she is not a typical wanna-be actress as we soon discover. In fact, she is not even mortal though she does not know this yet.

She finally gets a break when the lead actress, to whom she is an understudy, gets sick and cannot play the part. But it doesn’t start off well. And in an effort to relearn her lines, she goes to Central Park to practice where she meets Sonny. Sonny is no ordinary mortal either and he is drawn in by her “firecracker” energy. He makes the mistake of talking to her and their relationship just kind of snowballs into love from there.

Unfortunately there are others who want a piece of Kelly and not for all the right reasons. Sonny needs to figure who they are before it is too late while keeping up his job as a Janus guard for the Faerie King Oberon. The ensuing tale is quite a ride and manages to hold out the suspense right up to the end which is why I am recommending it.

Contains: some language though not excessive