Download or read book The Lost Daughter of Venice written by Charlotte Betts and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2023-02-02 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Come to Venice. Please, Phoebe, do not fail me. 'Lingers in the heart long after the final page is turned . . . a must read for anyone who wants to be absorbed as well as utterly enchanted' Carol McGrath Venice, 1919 Seventeen years ago, the grand Venetian Palazzo degli Angeli was Phoebe Wyndham's home; now, the neglected walls of the palazzo are just a haunting reminder of all she has lost. Arriving back in Italy after a plea from her estranged relative, the Contessa di Sebastiano, the recently widowed Phoebe is shocked to discover her aunt is dead and the palazzo now belongs to her. All she wants to do is sell the property and return home. However, when a dark family secret is exposed, the shocking deception rocks Phoebe to her very core, and she vows not to leave the City of Water without first unravelling the truth from the lies. As Phoebe searches for answers, she finds herself growing closer to two very different men. But, when her camera catches something more sinister than the faded grandeur of Venice, Phoebe begins to question who she can really trust and whether her aunt's death was truly an accident after all . . . Why do readers love Charlotte Betts? 'Lush, romantic and full of intrigue' Tracy Rees, Richard & Judy bestselling author 'A deeply romantic novel whose vivid characters will linger in your mind' Margaret Kaine 'Romantic, poignant and gripping . . . a fabulous holiday read' Deborah Swift 'A stunning and captivating read . . . full of drama, love, loss and life' Book Literati 'Romantic, engaging and hugely satisfying' Katie Fford 'A compelling story, beautifully written and brought alive with rich historical detail' Liz Harris

Download or read book The Lost Diary of Venice written by Margaux DeRoux and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2020-06-11 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A secret diary. A forbidden love. A centuries old mystery to solve. When a rare sixteenth-century manuscript lands on her desk courtesy of William, a struggling painter, shy book restorer Rose makes a startling discovery: it is a palimpsest. Beneath the text is a different document, one that's been written over. What they discover is the secret diary of William's ancestor, Giovanni Lomazzo, a Venetian painter who has just been commissioned by Venice's most powerful admiral to paint a portrait of his favourite courtesan... it is a diary of forbidden love, dangerous political plots, and secrets that could destroy everyone involved. Together, Rose and William work to solve the mystery of what happened to the secret lovers. As feelings develop between Rose and William, their own experience begins to mirror the affair that they're uncovering, and each set of lovers is forced to confront the reality of their romance. A richly detailed and sweeping page-turner, Margaux's sumptuous portrait of late Renaissance Italy will have you falling headlong into history, slipping in and out of the shadows along the canals of Venice.

Download or read book The Orphan s Song written by Lauren Kate and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historical adult debut novel by # 1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate, The Orphan's Song is a breathtaking story of passion, heartbreak, and betrayal, and a celebration of the enduring nature and transformative power of love. "A tangled knot of betrayal and love, lies and redemption. Marvelous." --Fiona Davis, author of The Address A song brought them together. A secret will tear them apart. When Violetta and Mino meet, one finds true love and the other denies it. Both orphans at the Hospital of the Incurables in Venice, an orphanage and music conservatory, they meet and make music together clandestinely until Violetta is selected for the Incurables' renowned chorus. In order to join she signs an oath never to sing beyond the church doors, effectively sequestering herself for life. Mino flees, heartbroken. Too late, Violetta realizes what she has lost. In rebellion she begins a dangerous and forbidden nightlife, unknowingly drawing closer to Mino as he searches Venice for his long-lost mother. Mino and Violetta must each journey through passion, heartache, and betrayal before a dangerous secret reunites them, leading to a shocking and final confrontation.

Download or read book Serenissima written by Erica Jong and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 1997 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A story of Venice today and Venice in its illustrious past, this novel gives the reader a portrait of the modern-day film world and a clue to the passions behind Shakespeare's most enigmatic work. Jessica Pruitt, a Hollywood actress in her forties has come to Venice to judge the film festival.

Download or read book Daughter of Venice written by Donna Jo Napoli and published by Wendy Lamb Books. This book was released on 2002-05-14 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1592, Donata is a noble girl living in a palazzo on the Grand Canal. Girls of her class receive no education and rarely leave the palazzo. In a noble family, only one daughter and one son will be allowed to marry; Donata, like all younger daughters, will be sent to a convent. Donata longs to be tutored like her brothers and to see the Venice she has glimpsed only on the map. What is the world beyond her balcony, beyond what she sees when she glides, veiled, in a gondola down the canal? She dresses as a boy and escapes the palazzo on the Grand Canal to see the world before she is shut away, and to try to find a way to escape her fate. Donata risks everything; she changes her life, and her family’s life, forever when she walks through the door and encounters a Venice she never knew existed.

Download or read book The Apothecary s Daughter written by Charlotte Betts and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2011-08-04 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *The ebook bestseller* A story bursting with colour and flavour, perfect for fans of Susanna Gregory, Georgette Heyer and Joanne Harris 1665. Susannah Leyton has grown up behind the counter of her father's apothecary shop in bustling Fleet Street. A skilled student - the resinous scents of lavender, rosemary, liquorice and turpentine run in her blood - her father has granted her the freedom to pursue her considerable talents. But Susannah is dealt a shocking blow when her widowed father marries again, and her new step-mother seems determined to remove her from the apothecary shop for good. A proposal of marriage from the charming Henry Savage seems to offer Susannah an escape. But as the plague sweeps through London, tragedy strikes, and dark secrets in her husband's past begin to unfold. It will take all of Susannah's courage and passion to save herself from tragedy . . .

Download or read book Olivia Goes to Venice written by Ian Falconer and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-03-03 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her latest adventure, Olivia, everyone's favourite little pig, is off the Venice, the place of fine art, carnival and gondolas for a family holiday to remember. With her very own discerning eye for style, Olivia takes the beautiful city of Venice by storm. From dodging pigeons in the Piazza San Marco, to eating an abundance of the most delicious Italian gelato at Carneval, and barelystaying afloat in a gondola, Olivia uncovers the wonderful delights of Venice with that very special 'Olivia' style and flair!

Download or read book The Last Daughter of York written by Nicola Cornick and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An engaging, fast-paced read for fans of Philippa Gregory and of dual-timeline historical fiction." —Library Journal In the winter of 1483, Francis Lovell is Richard III’s Lord Chamberlain and confidant, but the threat of Henry Tudor’s rebels has the king entrusting to Francis and his wife, Anne, his most crucial mission: protecting the young Richard of York, his brother’s surviving son and a threat to Henry’s claims to the throne. Two years later, Richard III is dead, and Anne hides the young prince of York while Francis is hunted by agents of the new king, Henry VII. Running out of options to keep her husband and the boy safe, Anne uses the power of an ancient family relic to send them away, knowing that in doing so she will never see Francis again. In the present day, Serena Warren has been haunted by her past ever since her twin sister, Caitlin, disappeared. But when Caitlin’s bones are discovered interred in a church vault that hasn’t been opened since the eighteenth century, the police are baffled. Piecing together local folklore that speaks of a magical relic with her own hazy memories of the day Caitlin vanished, Serena begins to uncover an impossible secret that her grandfather has kept hidden, one that connects her to Anne, Francis and the young Duke of York. Inspired by the enduring mystery of the Princes in the Tower, Nicola Cornick cleverly interprets the events into a dazzling novel set between a present-day mystery and a country on the brink of Tudor rule.

Download or read book The Lost Daughter written by Elena Ferrante and published by Text Publishing. This book was released on 2015-04-15 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leda is a middle-aged, divorced mother devoted to her work as an English professor. After the departure of her grown-up daughters, she takes a holiday on the Italian coast. But after a few days things become unsettling; on the beach she encounters a family whose brash behaviour proves menacing. Leda is overwhelmed by memories of the difficult and unconventional choices she made as a mother and their consequences for herself and her family. The tale of a woman's rediscovery of herself soon becomes the story of a ferocious confrontation with the past. The Lost Daughter is a profound exploration of the conflicting emotions that tie women to their children. Elena Ferrante was born in Naples. She is the author of seven novels: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, The Lost Daughter, and the quartet of Neapolitan Novels: My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child. Fragments, a selection of interviews, letters and occasional writings by Ferrante, will be published in early 2016. She is one of Italy's most acclaimed authors. Ann Goldstein has translated all of Elena Ferrante's work. She is an editor at the New Yorker and a recipient of the PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Award. 'Ferrante's gift for psychological horror renders it immediate and visceral.' New Yorker 'This superb and scary Italian writer...has blown the lid off tempestuous parent-child relations.' Seattle Times 'So refined, almost translucent, that it seems about to float away, in the end this piercing novel is not so easily dislodged from the memory.' Boston Globe 'It's Leda's voice that's hypnotic, and it's the writing that makes it that way. Ferrante can do a woman's interior dialogue like no one else, with a ferocity that is shockingly honest, unnervingly blunt.' Booklist 'Ferrante's prose is stunningly candid, direct and unforgettable. From simple elements, she builds a powerful tale of hope and regret.' Publishers Weekly ‘Ferrante’s uncompromising directness and her unflinching gaze cannot be faulted.’ Age/Sydney Morning Herald ‘With cold determination, Ferrante conveys both the selfishness and the courage that comes with admitting your own maternal shortcomings.’ New Zealand Listener

Download or read book The Apothecary written by Maile Meloy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster. Together with Ian Schoenherr's breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.

Download or read book Miss Garnet s Angel written by Salley Vickers and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the death of her longtime friend and flatmate, retired British history teacher Julia Garnet does something completely out of character: She takes a six-month rental on a modest apartment in Venice. She befriends a young Italian boy and English twins who are restoring a fourteenth-century chapel. And she falls in love for the first time in her life with an art dealer named Carlo. Juxtaposing Julia's journey of self-discovery with the apocryphal tale of Tobias and the Archangel Raphael, Miss Garnet's Angel tells a lyrical, incandescent story of love, loss, miracles, and redemption and of one woman's transformation and epiphany.

Download or read book Death in the Floating City written by Tasha Alexander and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Huffington Post calls Tears of Pearl author Tasha Alexander "one to watch—and read" and her new Lady Emily mystery set in Venice proves it! Years ago, Emily's childhood nemesis, Emma Callum, scandalized polite society when she eloped to Venice with an Italian count. But now her father-in-law lies murdered, and her husband has vanished. There's no one Emma can turn to for help but Emily, who leaves at once with her husband, the dashing Colin Hargreaves, for Venice. There, her investigations take her from opulent palazzi to slums, libraries, and bordellos. Emily soon realizes that to solve the present day crime, she must first unravel a centuries old puzzle. But the past does not give up its secrets easily, especially when these revelations might threaten the interests of some very powerful people.

Download or read book The Violinist of Venice written by Alyssa Palombo and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like most 18th century Venetians, Adriana d'Amato adores music—except her strict merchant father has forbidden her to cultivate her gift for the violin. But she refuses to let that stop her from living her dreams and begins sneaking out of her family's palazzo under the cover of night to take violin lessons from virtuoso violinist and composer Antonio Vivaldi. However, what begins as secret lessons swiftly evolves into a passionate, consuming love affair. Adriana's father is intent on seeing her married to a wealthy, prominent member of Venice's patrician class—and a handsome, charming suitor, whom she knows she could love, only complicates matters—but Vivaldi is a priest, making their relationship forbidden in the eyes of the Church and of society. They both know their affair will end upon Adriana's marriage, but she cannot anticipate the events that will force Vivaldi to choose between her and his music. The repercussions of his choice—and of Adriana's own choices—will haunt both of their lives in ways they never imagined. Spanning more than 30 years of Adriana's life, Alyssa Palombo's The Violinist of Venice is a story of passion, music, ambition, and finding the strength to both fall in love and to carry on when it ends.

Download or read book The Days of Abandonment written by Elena Ferrante and published by Europa Editions. This book was released on 2005-09-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times–bestselling author of My Brilliant Friend, this novel of a deserted wife’s descent into despair—and rage—is “a masterpiece” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The Days of Abandonment is the gripping story of an Italian woman’s experiences after being suddenly left by her husband after fifteen years of marriage. With two young children to care for, Olga finds it more and more difficult to do the things she used to: keep a spotless house, cook meals with creativity and passion, refrain from using obscenities. After running into her husband with his much-younger new lover in public, she cannot even refrain from assaulting him physically. In a “raging, torrential voice” (The New York Times), Olga conveys her journey from denial to devastating emptiness—and when she finds herself literally trapped within the four walls of their high-rise apartment, she is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential loss of her own identity, and the possibility that life may never return to normal. “Quick, furious, simultaneously steely and unhinged, and completely mesmerizing.” —The New York Times “Intelligent and darkly comic.” —Publishers Weekly “Remarkable, lucid, austerely honest.” —The New Yorker

Download or read book Letting in the Light written by Charlotte Betts and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2022-01-20 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the award-winning author of The Apothecary's Daughter comes the next book in the Spindrift Trilogy - a beautifully evocative, family drama, perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore, Lucinda Riley and Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles. 1914 Spindrift House, Cornwall Edith Fairchild's good-for-nothing husband, Benedict, deserted her when their children were babies. Now the children are almost adult, Edith and Pascal, her faithful lover of two decades, are planning to leave their beloved Spindrift artists' community and finally be together. But an explosive encounter between Benedict and Pascal forces old secrets into the light, causing rifts in the happiness and security of the community. Then an assassin's bullet fired in faraway Sarajevo sets in motion a chain of events that changes everything. Under the shadow of war, the community struggles to eke out a living. The younger generation enlist or volunteer to support the war effort, facing dangers that seemed unimaginable in the golden summer of 1914. When it's all over, will the Spindrift community survive an unexpected threat? And will Edith and Pascal ever be able to fulfil their dream? Why do readers love Charlotte Betts? 'Romantic, engaging and hugely satisfying' Katie Fforde 'A highly-recommended novel of love, tragedy and the power of art' Daily Mail 'Beautifully written, engaging and heart-warming' Book Club Mumma 'A highly compelling, engrossing read' Discovering Diamonds 'Evocative, enthralling and enjoyable' Bookish Jottings 'Poignant, compelling and extensively researched . . . I cannot wait to find out what happens next to these characters' Sarah's Vignettes 'A delightful historical saga which is so beautifully woven together that from the very start I was enchanted' Jaffa Reads Too 'Rich in detail, full of passion this is a delightful and fascinating read' Book Literati

Download or read book The Thief Lord written by Cornelia Funke and published by Chicken House. This book was released on 2013-10-03 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amid the crumbling splendour of wintertime Venice, two orphans are on the run. The mysterious Thief Lord offers shelter, but a terrible danger is gathering force...

Download or read book The Painter s Apprentice written by Charlotte Betts and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2012-08-02 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of ebook bestseller The Apothecary's Daughter 1688. Beth Ambrose has led a sheltered life within Merryfields, her family home on the outskirts of London; a place where her parents provide a sanctuary for melancholic souls. A passionate and gifted artist, Beth shares a close bond with Johannes the painter, who nurtures her talents and takes her on as his apprentice. But as political tensions begin to rise in the capital, Noah Leyton arrives at her family home in the middle of the night with a proposition that turns Beth's world upside down. And when Merryfields becomes refuge to a mysterious new guest, whose connections provide an opportunity for Beth to fulfil her artistic ambitions, she soon realises that it comes at a price . . .