By the Grand Canal

Name: By the Grand Canal
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: William Rivire
ISBN: 9781455105939

Author: William Rivire

Narrator: Simon Vance

Unabridged: 6 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Published: 01/01/2006

Categories: Fiction

Synopsis

In the aftermath of the First World War, Hugh Thurne, a British diplomat involved in the peace negotiations, finds solace in his rented palazzo in Venice rather than returning to his wife and the charade of his marriage in London. Although profoundly disturbed about the longterm prospects for peace, he has faith in the citys power to raise his spirits. Hugh eagerly looks forward to visits with his old friends Giocomo and Valentina Venier in their dilapidated palazzo on the Grand Canal to dallying with a young opera singer, Emanuela; and to the arrival of violet Mancroft, the widow of his best friend lost in the war. What he does not anticipate is the shadow lying over the Venier familys future. Nor has he reckoned with the vagaries of his own heart. Evoking the beauty of Venice, this is a novel about premonition for the future and the war it portends, about death and memory, and also about an unexpected love between two old friends.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Linda

By the Grand Canal is a quiet, thoughtful novel about a group of friends who gather again in Venice after having been separated by the First World War. Naturally, they have all, from oldest to youngest, experienced deprivation as a result of the conflict, but now they hope to regain some of their fo......more

Goodreads review by Charles

For me, this book required and repaid close attention. I probably left it unfinished and went on to something less demanding several times. Because I found the language gorgeous many times, I sometimes let myself lose the narrative or descriptive thread when my attention was not really sharply focus......more

Goodreads review by Linnea

Set in post-WWI Venice, this book has some interesting insights into Italy's place in that war and the effects on Venice, in particular. But, while there are some lovely, small, descriptive passages, for the most part the writing is unsubstantial and the characters never really come to life as well......more

Goodreads review by JodiP

Ah! I love Riviere. His period detail is amazing, and the characters are folks you can really appreciate, as they are complex and so well-drawn. Unfortunately, he hasn’t written that much, so I’m savoring.......more

Goodreads review by Colleen

Not so great, just interesting because I lived nearby. Also, it's another perspective of history during WWII......more