This book was one of my random library pickups. The title caught me and luckily the synopsis on the jacket flap sounded interesting too.The story centers around a Venetian courtesan and a modern day woman researching her. With the magnetic backdrop of Venice, there is political intrigue, romance, history hunting, and a bit of suspense.
Although occasionally predictable, I found both the characters and plot enthralling. And as a long-time lover of historical fiction, it fit the bill of interesting and educational. The main character of the 17th century plotline, Alessandra is both loveable and admirable in her independence, maybe almost unrealisiticly so. On the other hand, Claire of the modern day, was not quite as undearing, but not so much that she was too annoying to bearable to me.
The narrative style of the two storylines interspersed was executed moderately well. Toward the beginning, there were many points that I wished she would not go back to Claire as the storyline was a lot less interesting, but as the novel continued it got more interesting and was not as frustrating.
A mild disclaimer: this book is about a courtesan so beware of adult themes and couple explicit passages, but there really are only two.
Positives: I was able to get into the plot and feel deeply about the characters. I would definitely be able to call it a page-turner. Also, it gave me a very good idea of the setting of Venice and made it very attractive.
Negatives: A few disjointed and seemingly random occurances in modern plot line. Also, some times of dragging and uninteresting story. A couple unrealistic moments that almost seemed silly. Definitely all things that did not stand out to me after finishing it.
Rating: 4 - this was a good book.
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