House Aretoli

I received an advanced review copy of House Aretoli last month from the author through Librarything's Early Reviewer's Club in exchange for an honest review. It is a story of medieval Venice, my favorite setting.  The novel is in the running for the short list of the 2023 Chaucer Book Awards for pre-1750s early historical fiction.   It will be published on October 23, 2023.  

The publisher's summary:  

1365, Venice, Italy. For generations, the merchants of House Aretoli have profited through faithful service to the Republic of Venice. Despite being only a minor senatorial family, they’ve established a reputation for reliability, fidelity, and ingenuity.

But the Aretoli are about to face the ultimate test. Caught up in a rebellion on Venice’s territory of Crete, young Niccolo Aretoli returns as a hero after saving the governor’s life and evacuating the loyal citizenry. Yet despite his new fame, not all is well in Venice. Niccolo’s beloved has been forced into marriage to safeguard her family from ruin. Fresh jealousies divide him from his brother Flavio. And traitorous senators and a seductive foreign agent threaten to divide and destroy his family as part of an even darker design.

From brothel to Senate, on land and sea, through marriage and loss, the sons and daughters of House Aretoli struggle against spies, treachery, and assassination. The seeds of discord are already growing, and they threaten to turn sibling against sibling. Chased on land and sea by enemies and betrayed by his closest allies, Niccolo must overcome a conspiracy that threatens his survival, the lives of his family, and the very existence of the republic itself.

 

I was expecting a historical mystery story but after reading the publisher's summary above I realized that was a faulty expectation. The book is more historical fiction than mystery, although there are mysteries that need to be resolved in the plot. This is not to say that I was bored. I enjoyed reading about the Aretoli family dynamics but was expecting Flavio and Niccolo to be as close as they were before Niccolo went off to fight in Crete. This was probably not realistic given that Flavio married Niccolo's girlfriend while he was away.  As the oldest son, Flavio should have been more assertive than Niccolo.  Instead, Flavio was intimidated by his younger brother and carried a lot of angst over their relationship post Crete. He eventually became an angry and vindictive person which I did not see coming.  Niccolo kept his emotions to himself and found ways to keep busy in order to avoid expressing them.  He is definitely the hero of the story. Their relationship, though, is what this story is ultimately about.

Niccolò had the support of his father Angelo.  Angelo saw too many faults in his oldest son and preferred that Niccolo run the family business. He helped him excel in the Senate. This is what made Flavio so jealous and he consequently became a vindictive man.  There were two sisters and another brother in the Aretoli family.  Youngest brother Marco did not involve himself in the family business, preferring to study painting. Oldest sister Asparia was the most politically astute member of the family and I loved hearing her tell the boys what was really happening in Venice and how they should handle the family’s interests.  Camilla, the baby of the family, rounds out the Aretoli cast of characters. 

The family has some amazing characters.  With the Venetian families of Dandolo, Brattori, Feratollo and Madina offering conflict for them, I think this would make a great series.

4 out of 5 stars.