The Violinist of Venice

The Violinist of Venice is about the world renowned composer and priest Antonio Vivaldi and his fictional student Adriana d'Amato.  Forbidden to play music by her wealthy merchant father, Adriana secretly visits Vivaldi at night to ask him to teach her to play the violin. He agrees but after a few lessons they quickly fall in love and begin to make love after each lesson. Adriana has to sneak around her strict father to practice her instrument and continue to visit Vivaldi. Her father is showing her off to several noble Venetian families in hopes of arranging a marriage for her. Adriana wants Vivaldi but is he willing to give up the priesthood for her? That will mean giving up his ability to work in music as well.

While this book has been described as "a story of Vivaldi," the main character is actually Adriana. It covers thirty years of her life, most of it lived without him but still pining for him. However, his music is prevalent throughout the novel. The author has written into the plot plenty of information on violin techniques and on how to compose music. Both characters are shown playing the instrument exquisitely and the reader can hear the music coming off of the pages. Pardon the pun, it makes the book sing.

Writing a musical romance was a brilliant idea. Perhaps the author has a series here where she can feature a different musician in each novel. 5 out of 5 stars!