At the beginning of January I put up a post about my wonderful Christmas present – a trip to Venice, and after I asked other bibliophiles for their recommendations of what to read on holiday, I was nearly as excited about my final choices as the trip itself! Thank you everyone who helped out with my holiday list!
I couldn’t reduce the list to anything less than five, but as they are mostly novellas or short stories. Here they are:
Don’t Look Now & Other Stories – Daphne Du Maurier (Review here)
Death in Venice – Thomas Mann (Review here)
Death a la Fenice – Donna Leon
The Haunted Hotel – Wilkie Collins (Review here)
The Passion – Jeanette Winters (Review here)
I have The Passion on my never ending TBR pile and had no idea that it was set in Venice. I am just going to add another book into the mix which if you don’t take or get or read before I may think you are mad, or madder. Miss Garnett’s Angel by Salley Vickers is AMAZING. Kimbofo recommended it to me just as a great read and it is sooooooo evocative of Venice its untrue. You will love it as its all about art and sculpture in parts too!
Ooh, I will love if it it talks about the art and sculpture. I might see if I can read that earlier to help me plan what I want to see!
Apparently late to the party–and savidgereads already scooped me–but Miss Garnet’s Angel is a lovely book, the first book in a long time that actually made me cry at the end.
Not late to the party…just reinforcing and making me doubly happy that I got a copy!
I love both Death at La Fenice and Death in Venice. What about The Wings of the Dove by Henry James?
I’ve managed to get Death in Venice out of the library and am going to get Death a La Fenice from Amazon I think. I’m sort of tempted by Wings of a Dove but I worry it might be a bit heavy going as it’s only a few days holiday. Perhaps I should read it afterwards to reminisce!
I loved The Passion, so hope you enjoy it.
I haven’t read any of the others, so will be interested to hear what you think.
A few less obvious gems from last year, all reeking of Venice -
Elle Newmark – The book of Unholy Mischief
Michelle Lovric – The Undrowned Child
Edward Sklepowich – The Veils of Venice
‘Reeking of Venice’ I like it. Thanks for the suggestions!! Your fictional cities lists are amazingly extensive, I will remember for future holidays…
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