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    Vivaldi's Virgins: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Vivaldi's Virgins: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Vivaldi's Virgins: A Novel
    Ebook318 pages5 hours

    Vivaldi's Virgins: A Novel

    By Barbara Quick

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In this enthralling new novel, Barbara Quick re-creates eighteenth-century Venice at the height of its splendor and decadence. A story of longing and intrigue, half-told truths and toxic lies, Vivaldi's Virgins unfolds through the eyes of Anna Maria dal Violin, one of the elite musicians cloistered in the foundling home where Antonio Vivaldi—known as the Red Priest of Venice—is maestro and composer.

    Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pietà as an infant, is determined to find out who she is and where she came from. Her quest takes her beyond the cloister walls into the complex tapestry of Venetian society; from the impoverished alleyways of the Jewish Ghetto to a masked ball in the company of a king; from the passionate communal life of adolescent girls competing for their maestro's favor to the larger-than-life world of music and spectacle that kept the citizens of a dying republic in thrall. In this world, where for fully half the year the entire city is masked and cloaked in the anonymity of Carnival, nothing is as it appears to be.

    A virtuoso performance in the tradition of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vivaldi's Virgins is a fascinating glimpse inside the source of Vivaldi's musical legacy, interwoven with the gripping story of a remarkable young woman's coming-of-age in a deliciously evocative time and place.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061758461
    Unavailable
    Vivaldi's Virgins: A Novel
    Author

    Barbara Quick

    Novelist and poet Barbara Quick is author of Vivaldi's Virgins, translated into 13 languages, made into an audiobook, and in development as a mini-series by Lotus Pictures. Her first novel, Northern Edge, was awarded the Discover: Great New Writers Prize. Her debut book of poems, The Light on Sifnos, won the 2020 Blue Light Press Poetry Prize. She returned to Italy to write A Golden Web, which tells the tale of the pioneering teenage anatomist, Alessandra Giliani. Barbara’s fourth novel, What Disappears (2022), is a multi-generational tale of ballerinas and Jewish history set in Belle Époque Paris. An avid student of other languages, Barbara has traveled the world to do the research for her stories. She and her husband split their time between the Hudson River Valley and the Wine Country of Northern California.

    Read more from Barbara Quick

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    Reviews for Vivaldi's Virgins

    3.5/5

    71 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Venice and Vivaldi and a young violinist orphan in a convent. Makes for a great story rich in historical detail. Thestoryline did drag in parts and the action was slow.
    • 2/5
      In 18th century Venice, Anna Maria dal Violin has lived her entire life in the orphanage where Antonio Vivaldi is maestro and composer. Like most of the other girls, all elite musicians, she was abandoned at the Ospidale de la Pieta as an infant. Maria exhibits great talent – even genius – on the violin and is personally tutored by the maestro himself. Still, she cannot rest until she finds out the truth of her parentage, and her continued efforts in this regard keep her from being promoted to the highest ranks within the cloister. Told by Maria in flashback, the story takes the reader from the Jewish Ghetto to the fabulous palaces of the nobility, from a picnic on a remote island to a masked ball in the company of a king.

      This sounds like a really interesting book. I love historical fiction. I studied music for many years and wanted to immerse myself in the world of the composer. But the book failed to deliver. The story is slow to take off and I kept waiting for something to happen. At one point I realized I was more than half-way through and still the plot was barely moving forward. Once Anna Maria figured out a few key players, however, the story captured my attention, and I devoured the last quarter of the book. Too bad I had to wade through so much sludge before I got to the interesting part.
    • 4/5
      Better story than The Four Seasons - 'feels' more historically accurate, intriguing without romantising too much. The story of Anna Maria dal Violin's life at the Pieta, home for abondonned girls who contribute to the up0keepof the institution by honing extraordinary musical skills. Vivaldi composes for them and they remain cloistered which adds mystery and allure.
    • 2/5
      [Note to self: Avoid any book written by an author who wears a flower in her hair in the cover photo.]The comparison to Girl with a Pearl Earring is greatly exaggerated! I was disappointed in this book--too much adolescent angst, too little Vivaldi and Venice. I also found the writing style rather precious, and device of the letters to a nonexistent mother just didn't work for me. Maybe it gets better, but I gave up on it halfway through.
    • 4/5
      I love Vivaldi's music "the Four seasons" but I know nothing of the life of the man. The main character of the book Anna Maria dal Violin is a real person - a gifted musician of the time and this is her story. With this book I do not want to give away too much of the story for those who may be enticed to read it. But a little ---- Anna Maria was abandoned as an infant and became one of the elite musicians living in the foundling home where Vivaldi "the red priest" was maestro and composer. Anna has no idea who her mother is and the book is held together with letters that she writes to her mother (sister Laura suggested she did this) hoping that she will receive them and that one day she will find out who she is. The great thing about reading is that it can take you into a completely different world and evoke the atmosphere of the time and place and I enjoyed the book for this very reason.
    • 4/5
      Frightfully well-researched, fun to read, and slightly naughty. Some small problems with story timeline and minor plotting issues, but still very fine book.