Recommendations needed for Venice 12-16 C

[fljustice]

I had a request from a colleague for good historical novels about Venice in its heyday (12th to 16th century). It’s the topic of a Humanities West program in San Francisco, and he's responsible for making reading recommendations to the audience. Any recommendations? Thanks for your help!

[Elizabeth]

I'd recommend Sarah Dunant's In the Company of the Courtesan. It's toward the end of the time span, in the early 16th century, but full of wonderful detail about life, love and politics in Venice.

[MLE]

I haven't read that yet, Elizabeth, but from going to Sarah Dunant's talk, I had the impression that it was set in Florence.

Samuel Shellabarger's Lord Vanity is partly set in Venice, as is his Prince of Foxes.

Also the Book of Unholy Mischief is set in Venice. Wasn't impressed with the plot, but the setting seemed authentic enough.

I learned many fascinating and unknown details about 16th-century Venice from a biography of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who was for ten years Emperor Charles V's Ambassador to Venice. It's titled Son of the Alhambra, a scholarly work full of references to his copious letters to the Emperor. Good luck finding a copy though-- it's a rare bit of academia.

[Elizabeth]

It's The Birth of Venus that's set in Florence. In the Company of the Courtesan begins with the sack of Rome, and then follows its main characters to Venice, where they begin new lives.

I love Prince of Foxes. Part of it's set in Ferrara. Does it have a strong Venetian element? I haven't read it for a while.

[annis]

Michelle Lovric Floating City

Kay Nolte Smith Venetian Song - a young noblewoman being forced ito a hateful marriage, runs away from home and joins a troupe of travelling players.

Lauro Martines, Loredana, a Tale of Venice politics and passion in sixteenth-century Venice -- the story of two lovers caught up in a dangerous revolutionary movement

[fljustice]

Thanks, everyone! I'll pass these along. Any others out there?

[Elizabeth]

There's also some presence of 15th-century Venice in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series, particularly the fourth book Scales of Gold and the sixth, To Lie with Lions. Of course, in typical Dunnett-esque style, there's the presence of a lot of other places as well. :)

[Margaret]

Barry Unsworth's Stone Virgin is a dual-time period novel set in 14th and 18th century Venice. I haven't read it, but The Ruby in Her Navel (see review (http://www.historicalnovels.info/Ruby-in-Her-Navel.html)) gave an interesting perspective on medieval Sicily, so he should be fairly reliable.

Marina Fiorato's The Glassblower of Murano (which I have not read) and Donna Russo Morin's The Secret of the Glass (see review (http://www.historicalnovels.info/Secret-of-the-Glass.html)) are both set on Murano, a Venetian island where glassblowers were required to live and work so that their secrets would not become known outside of Venice. The Secret of the Glass is not for readers who expect high literary quality, but it does offer a dramatic picture of the Venetian scene in the very early 17th century, and the research on the Venetian customs and political scene of that time seemed to be reasonably good.

[Ash]

It takes place in Florence, but The Secret Book of Grazia Dei Rossi is an excellent book during that time frame in Italy. Even if its not much in Venice, its worth the read just for its excellent feel of the time and place.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Book-Grazia-dei-Rossi/dp/0684848406

[Kasthu]

Katie Hickman also has a new one coming out set in that time period: The Pindar Diamond.