A Venice Summer by Lynne Shelby

  

A Venice Summer  

By Lynne Shelby

SUMMARY:

Art conservator Rose Bennet is still reeling from a bad break-up when she is offered a dream job in Venice, restoring an art collection in the Ca’ D’Ambra, a six-hundred-year-old Venetian palazzo. Despite her fears about travelling to a foreign country on her own, Rose is soon heading to Italy for the summer.

While she is awestruck by the breathtaking beauty of Venice, Rose finds the owner of the palazzo, the arrogant and short-tempered Luca Casserini, insufferable. When he questions her ability to do her work, she almost heads straight back to London, but decides that she won’t let herself be intimidated or driven away before she’s even had a chance to ride in a gondola.

Losing her way in Venice’s picturesque maze of canals and alleyways, the last person Rose wants to see is her employer, but when they meet by chance and, to her surprise, he offers to show her around the city, she feels it would be churlish to refuse.

Spending sunlit summer days exploring Venice with Luca, Rose discovers a passionate side to him, very different to her first impression, and her feelings towards him begin to change …

Rose knows she can restore a damaged painting, but can she mend Luca’s damaged heart?

 

MY REVIEW:

What a beautiful, heartwarming story this is, and in a fabulous romantic location. Venice, the magical, medieval city that has charmed, fascinated and ensnared its visitors for centuries. It is a great start, as from the first chapter, Rose, an art conservator, arrives to take up her new position in the Ca’ d’Ambra (The Amber House) to restore some Renaissance paintings. The narrative is set because she is running away from a broken relationship, which is a powerful catalyst for change. We see her vulnerability immediately.

‘She was alone in a fifteenth-century palazzo in a foreign city where she had no friends and didn’t speak the language. She’d spent the day longing for her journey to be over, eager to begin this new chapter of her life, but now she experienced the overwhelming yearning to be back home in London. In the next instant, it came to her as forcibly as a punch that she had no home to go back to and no boyfriend who wanted her back.’

She is forcing herself into an active journey of self-discovery and the rebuilding of her personal identity.

The first glimpse of Venice is most spectacular when arriving by water, which the reader sees through Rose’s eyes. This is wonderfully descriptive and perfectly captures the city’s magic. Rose and the reader are bewitched.

‘The vaporetto left the dock, sailing along the waterfront before entering a broad canal lined with grand palazzi, their ornate facades built right on the water. They were so exquisitely beautiful in different shades of terracotta, yellow ochre, pink and russet that Rose gasped at the sight.’

Her assignment sounds like a dream yet daunting.  Her new employer is the enigmatic and aloof Luca Casserini, whose family have owned the Venetian Palazzo for six hundred years. He is a handsome guitar-playing, masculine Italian with striking Mediterranean features. He is hot!  

Sergio, the head of the restoration team, gives Rose the task of restoring a painting of a young woman seated by a window wearing a blue gown. There is no signature on the painting, and no one knows who the young woman is, but documents from 1536 suggest that it could have been painted by an apprentice of Nicolo Zano.

‘Who was she? This unknown young woman who, five centuries ago, had her portrait painted by an unknown artist. Had she lived in the Ca ’d’Ambra? Was she an ancestor of the palazzo’s present owner?’

Intriguing questions indeed! Rose turns art detective.

What I loved about the story is the dual timeline, which is now introduced as a brilliant narrative technique that weaves together two distinct storylines, one in the present and one in 1536. This is a great way to connect past events to the mystery of the young woman in the painting. Cleverly, the author changes the pace, the vocabulary, the dialogue and the tense to set the historical context of the sixteenth century with authenticity. We are transported back in time to a day in the life of a girl called Marietta.

‘I am in my bedchamber, sitting by the window, drying and bleaching my hair in a pool of sunlight while reading a book of love poetry, when a servant brings word that I am summoned to the portego by my father Pietro Casserini, who is not to be kept waiting.’

As Rose cleans and restores more of the painting to reveal the sitter, the reader uncovers more about not only the life of the mystery woman but also life in Venice in this period, at the height of its Renaissance glory.  It was a golden age for art and music. The book is a real insight into the life of a Venetian girl in 16th-century Venice, which was shaped by the city’s unique maritime economy, its patriarchal culture, and the strict divides of social class. As the daughter of a Doge or Duke, Marietta enjoyed a life of refined privilege, but it often meant living in seclusion and accepting an arranged marriage. The reader catches a glimpse into a world of luxury, shaped by traditions and expectations!

An attraction between two people needs to feel convincing and compelling, and the author definitely creates characters with their own flaws and quirks. There is clearly a natural chemistry between Rose and Luca, but they don’t get off to the best of starts. For me, there is a touch of ‘Mr Darcy’ about Luca.  Epitomised with wealth and social standing, he shows a similar arrogance when we first meet him. As Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books of all time, I adore the idea of a quintessential romantic hero in a story who is who is a bit brooding and emotionally restrained. Luca requests that she join him in the portego (central connecting hall of the Venetian palace) where he makes it clear what is expected of her.

‘You have Dario to thank for getting you this job, but you will have to prove to me you are capable of doing it as well as he would have done, if you expect to keep it. I have high standards for everyone employed on the Ca’ d’Ambra’s restoration. You must not presume that our mutual friendship with Dario means I will allow you to remain working on the project if you do not meet those standards. If your work proves unsatisfactory, you will be asked to leave.’

Rather bizarrely, Rose’s surname is Bennet and in the same way as Miss Elizabeth Bennet starts to change her opinion of Mr Darcy, Rose, also begins to see a softer and more gentle side to Luca. This style of romantic novel is tried and tested for a reason. Jane Austen's blueprint of the witty, independent woman and the brooding, wealthy man, who must both get out of their own ways to find love. It works perfectly in this book.

There are humorous moments in this story which add a light touch, enhance the pacing and give the reader an emotional break during tense moments.  Luca’s sister, fourteen-year-old Gianna, asks rather direct, awkward questions.

“‘Rose. Are you Luca’s new girlfriend?” “No”, I stuttered.  Talking to a teenager about the nuances of adult dating was way beyond my skill set. And, in the case of Luca’s sister, over my pay grade.’

 

 

Why I recommend this book:

A gorgeous, escapist summer read with delightful characters. It is clearly very well researched and offers vivid descriptions of Venice and the palazzo while giving the reader a compelling sense of the city, past and present.

The culmination of the story ends in a masked ball at the palazzo to showcase the Casserini collection of restored paintings. Rose has finished her restoration of the young woman in the blue dress, who now comes to life, and this is beautifully described.

‘My gaze travelled over Marietta’s elaborate hairstyle and astonishingly detailed embroidery around her neckline. The varnish had really brought out the brilliance of the colours used by the unknown artist: the white clouds in a blue sky, the hazy pastel-coloured mountains in the background, the gleam of Marietta’s gold necklace, the slashes of snowy white on her blue velvet sleeves and the lighter blue of her satin skirts , which pooled about her feet in shining folds. And then, there was the deep red of the rose, catching the eye of everyone who looked at the picture.’

The dual timeline allows the reader to uncover the past. Societal norms, family secrets, and how past actions ripple into the present.  I will make a comment about the different Italian spellings in the book of ‘domani’ (tomorrow) and 'ciao' (hi) but this in no way detracts from the engaging story and power of the book to transport the reader entirely to one of the most beautiful, secret and magical cities in the world.

I love the references to artists of Venice (some I am familiar with and some I am not!) and musicians. Vivaldi's musical footprint remains a major part of the Venetian cultural landscape, so it seems fitting that his music was played at the ball, ‘beneath the glittering chandeliers and gilded branches.’

 The juxtaposition in this story is the two love stories running through it, which have their own trials and tribulations. Luca’s heart has been broken once before, so does he have the capacity to love again?

‘Luca Casserini doesn’t do serious relationships.’

Will Marietta disobey her father's wishes for her arranged marriage and find love with a poor artist.

‘The Casserini do not wed for love but for commercial and political alliance’

Love demands continuous vulnerability, compromise, and resilience and this book delivers on all counts.

 

 

AUTHOR BIO:

Lynne Shelby writes contemporary and dual-timeline women’s fiction/romance. Her debut novel, ‘Meet Me In Paris,' (originally titled French Kissing), won the Accent Press and Woman magazine Writing Competition, and her fifth novel, Love On Location, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novelists' Award. When not writing or reading, Lynne can usually be found at the theatre or exploring a foreign city, writer's notebook and sketchbook in hand. She lives in London with her husband, and has three adult children who live nearby.

 

 

Social Media Links – 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LynneShelbyWriter

Instagram: lynneshelbywriter

Website: www.lynneshelby.com

 

 

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:

 

Dancing in the Moonlight

The Summer of Taking Chances

Love on Location

Rome for the Summer

There She Goes

The One that I Want

Meet me in Paris

 

BOOK BLURB:

Purchase Links:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Venice-Summer-sunlit-summer-romance-ebook/dp/B0GGX58TWJ/

https://www.amazon.com/Venice-Summer-sunlit-summer-romance-ebook/dp/B0GGX58TWJ/