I had a really hard time getting through this book. It could not hold my interest. The plot was very slow moving. ( )

When her mother dies, Marietta Fontana is taken into the Ospedale della Pieta, a Venetian music school for orphaned and abandoned girls. There she meets Elena Baccini, who becomes her best friend. Their destinies diverge, though, when they leave the Ospedale and are drawn into opposite sides of a deadly vendetta between two noble Venetian families. The plot certainly has dramatic potential, as does the vivid setting, but Laker's writing simply doesn't meet the test. Too much of the book is told and not shown; transitions from one point of view or scene to another are often awkward; and the style is overly formal and slightly stilted, particularly in the dialogue, which helps make the characters very two-dimensional. There was enough going on that I continued to read to find out what was going to happen, but I never felt intensely interested in the fates of the characters. Ultimately, the book felt to me too much like the mask of its title: a vivid, glittering surface, with very little beneath it. ( )

This book was a bit slow-moving, so I read a couple of other books between chapters of this one. Despite the slow pace, I did really enjoy this book all the way through. I wouldn't mind trying more books by this author. ( )

I quite enjoyed this book for the most part, although my biggest complaint would be that it could've been perhaps half the length that it was. Some readers might find it slow-moving, but I did enjoy the attention to Venetian detail and it was an enligtening read as far as masking and Carnival were concerned. I enjoyed the storyline; however, the flow seemed a little abrupt nearer the end. After a fairly slower-moving pace for the majority of the novel, the ending seemed rushed & wrapped up a bit too neatly. It was predictable, but not in a totally expected way. This may have appealed to more readers had the first three-fourths of the novel been condensed and the last fourth expanded. ( )

Years ago I had read several books by Rosalind Laker and enjoyed them and several that I found boring and hard to get through. When I requested this as an ARC copy I thought it sounded familiar and wondered if it could possibly be a reissue of the book I had not enjoyed earlier. When I received it and started to read it, I discovered that yes, unfortunately it was the same book. I tried to read it again and found that I didn't like it any more now than I did when it first came out. ( )

This book revolves around the life of a few Pieta singers (female orphans raised by the church to sing) at a time Venice is celebrating Carnival nearly six months of the year. The book was easy to read and the characters elicit reaction from the reader. For all the build up to the end of the story, the end fizzles a little. ( )

Enduring friendships and long-held vendettas come alive against the splendor and decadence of eighteenth-century Venice.

In 1775 Venice–known to outsiders as “the brothel of Europe”–the tradition of mask-wearing has allowed adultery and debauchery to flourish. But Marietta and Elena, two dear friends at the Ospedale della Pietà, a world-famous orphanage and music school for girls, know little of that milieu–until they come of age.

Elena is forced to wed the head of the Celano clan, a jealous, brutal man, while Marietta marries Domenico Torrisi, whose family vendetta with the Celanos is centuries old. Tradition dictates that the friends should never speak again, but their bond is too strong to break.

As the French Revolution unsettles all of Europe, Elena’s husband frames Domenico and he becomes a political prisoner. Marietta and Elena plot to save him, and the women discover that Venetian masks have noble purposes, too–but will their efforts put their own lives at risk?

Embodying the glitter and the treachery of the city it portrays, The Venetian Mask will keep you turning pages long into the night.
I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's Program and I'm very glad I did!

Sometimes it's really nice to step outside your box and read something you normally wouldn't.
This book is a prime example of that for me!

Marietta and Elena make a wonderful pair, both of whom the reader is endeared to from the very beginning.
We read Marietta's mother's dying wishes, see her life unfold, rapidly, from that of a beloved daughter to a working, singing orphan.

The Pietà makes a fabulous backdrop for about the first half of the book, and stands as a constant and steadfast symbol in the background for the rest of the story.
Even as the two girls grow, mature, are pitted against each other, and even as they struggle to hold on to the few consistencies in their lives, the Pietà is the fascinating, molding foundation.

Fabulously, though, this book is about more than just the friendship of Marietta and Elena. Their two stories weave together, separate, compliment one another, and often stand in contrast. To say that it's merely about the two girls is an injustice, though they and their relationship in undoubtedly the focus.

Though the ending is a bit too convenient for my tastes, there's so much mystery, romance, tension, history, and creativity here that I simply devoured it.
It made me interested in a time period that I usually give no more than a passing glance to, and I found myself looking up the various, beautiful masks and costumes that are not only often referenced but an important part, in many ways, to the story.

I laughed, I cried, I loved it.
The story started, grew, winded down, and finished superbly!

However, as a request, if you do read it, please let me know if you are very strongly reminded of "The Cask of Amontillado" by Poe, too.
I saw so many similarities there, and not just in setting and costume!
Divine!

PS: This website has a great snippet about and picture of all the masks mentioned in the story!

This review is a post on my blog. ( )

On the surface, The Venetian Mask is about love and friendship, and what one will do for them. In this novel, set in late-18th century Venice when the Venetian Republic was on the verge of collapse, two friends, Marietta and Elena, come together at the Ospedale della Pieta, where both are choir girls. Eventually both fall in love, but ultimately end up marrying men who are bitter rivals: Marietta marries the politically revolutionary (and practically a soothsayer) Domenica Torrisi, head of the Torrisi family, and Elena marries the cruel patriarch of the Celano clan, Filippo. Both women navigate their way through their respective marriages while ultimately trying to stay true to one another.

The major, obvious plus about the book is its setting. Venice here is much more than a place; it’s a character, too, and it leaps off the page. We witness everything that makes La Serenissima great, from Carnivale to the Marriage of the Sea ceremony, to the Inquisition and the inner workings of the Venetian judicial system, which wasn’t quite judicial (and we’re also introduced to the wells and Leads, two eerie prisons in the basement of the Doge’s palace, and the anonymous accusation boxes, in which any Venetian citizen could accuse another of anything).

I also enjoyed the plot of The Venetian Mask. The novel is heavily plot driven, and there are a lot of unexpected twists and turns.

My only problem with the novel is the characters; they’re a little too wooden and one-dimensional. Filippo is a stereotype, as is Alix, Marietta’s first love. And Elena and Marietta could be nearly indistinguishable from one another. But as I’ve said, the book is mostly plot-driven; despite its flaws, The Venetian Mask is a wonderful story about love in a time period that changed modern Europe. The Venice in which the novel takes place has disappeared, but the spirit of it is still there. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The two main characters that the book centers on draw you in and make you care for their well being. I get emotional with books and some of the trials these women went through struck a chord in my own life. It is hard not to get caught up in the emotions the words and situations evoke.

Venice is described in loving detail, often leaving out the downsides of having your city canals double as sewers, so it wasn't quite an accurate portrayal of late 18th century Venice.

I very much enjoyed the attention to detail that went into describing the various skills - singing, music, mask making, costuming, etc. that supported the lifestyles of the privileged in Venice.

Warning to those with delicate sensibilities - also contains possible spoilers, so stop reading if you are not easily offended:

Contains scenes that have issues of domestic abuse, rape, miscarriage, and imprisonment. ( )

Pure-as-the driven-snow orphans, Marietta and Elena, with extraordinary musical talent, grow up as close as sisters in the Pieta, raised by the nuns and groomed to be world-class singers. They are portrayed as almost flawless in every way, an occasional bout of jealousy being the only evidence that they are human. As they grow up, they find their friendship tested as they become involved in generations-old family disputes in a Romeo and Juliet style vendetta. What really disappointed me, was that the back cover told too much of the story. I suggest if you read it, go in fresh and don't read the blurb. Its a spoiler for the first half of the book. That said, the descriptions of Venice are vibrant and enjoyable- great sense of place. I'll say that overall, it was a three star book. I found it entertaining, but the characters left a bit to be desired: ( )

I really tried to like this book. It started off ok, but after several chapters, it just didn't pick up or draw me in. I really did not Laker's writing style. Although descriptions of Venice were interesting, I didn't really care about the characters after a while and found them to be quite annoying. I pretty much skimmed the 2nd half of the book just to find out what happened. This disappoints me as I have The Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker to read and if its anything like The Venetian Mask, I may end up giving up on that one as well. I am not a romance novel fan and this read like one rather than a historical fiction which is what I was expecting. ( )

http://printedpage.blogspot.com/2008/... ( )

This was just not a book that I got into. While historical fiction is my favorite genre, I just wasn't drawn into this story. Many parts seemed to last too long and I found myself skimming to the more interesting parts. The look into the Venice of the time period was intersting, and the characters were, for the most part, likeable. Not a book I would recommend, which takes a lot for me to say, as I usually enjoy just about everything I read. ( )

Although I purchased The Golden Tulip last year, this is the first novel I’ve read by Rosalind Laker. It tells the story of Marietta, a girl who lost her parents at an early age. Her mother loved her so much that she ensured that her daughter was given a home at the Pieta, a Roman Catholic home for orphaned girls. This was the place for Marietta because it gave her the opportunity to make the most of her beautiful singing voice. There, she becomes best friends with Elena. The two grow up together like sisters, only to marry into two Venetian families embroiled in a generation’s old vendetta.

While thinking about this novel over the weekend, I kept making comparisons to The Tea Rose. This was because both heroines are similarly strong women, but even more so because everything they touched in business turned to gold. They certainly worked hard for their success, but there is this little part of me that feels that it came too readily. It’s not that I wanted Marietta or Fiona to have an exhaustingly difficult experience building their businesses. I think it would be more realistic to have a tiny idea or two that didn’t pan out.

My feelings for the novels as a whole are similar as well. They both had portions that kept me reading as well as portions that felt too long. Still, I really enjoyed my trip through beauty, lust, and intrigue of Venice. I loved the descriptions of the masks and the parties. I am also interested in learning more about the city’s history. Much like Devourer of Books, I found Venice to be equally compelling and perhaps more fleshed than Marietta or Elena. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t recommend this book. Laker has good writing skills and creates an interesting world. Given its pacing, it would make a good choice if you want to work on a book when you can’t devote all of your time to it. It’s a pleasant diversion that can easily be picked back up after a while without losing its charm.

http://literatehousewife.wordpress.co... ( )

I gave this book a very fair chance (read half the book), but in the end I just couldn't finish it. While I liked the story and the characters, I just didn't care for Laker's writing style. I kept thinking it was picking up and then would find myself thinking (again), "When am I going to finish this book?" I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't my thing.

The only way I can really describe the experience of reading Rosalind Laker's book is with a half-hearted "meh." I didn't finish it- not because I HATED it, but because it just didn't draw me in at all and I felt no great desire to find out what happened next.

I found the writing inelegant- there several instances of Laker telling readers exactly what was going through characters' minds, even when it was obvious (i.e., "Are you alright?" he asked anxiously. He was anxious to know that she was alright). I also thought the female characters were terribly one-dimensional in that they were without fault, the beautiful (but of course, completely oblivious to their beauty) victims of circumstances beyond their control.

There is nothing wrong with this type of writing, I suppose, and I'm sure that if there hadn't been many other books calling out to me to be read, I might have continued reading it through to the end. But about 150 pages in, I just didn't have any real interest in the story or the characters, and so I decided to move to something else. I do like historical fiction and historical romance as a genre, but I like the Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen type novels, which are full of witty repartee and memorable conversation; Laker does not, in my opinion stack up.

Overall, I don't think this was a bad book, but I also don't think it was memorable, and I believe that there are many historical fiction authors out there who do better than Laker did.

ugh...chick lit disguised as historical fiction. i must confess, i could not finish this book. in fact, i couldn't get past the second chapter, which skips several years with no explanation. (ie the character is several years older and there's no development during that time). i think i might've enjoyed this book more when i was younger; its descriptions of eighteenth century venice were well done, and might've taught me something years ago, when i would've not have minded the insipid plot. the characters did not ring true, and were just too perfect, the type who always say and do the right thing at the right time...the author "told" more than "showed"! ( )

This is the story of Marietta and Elena, two orphaned girls who meet at the Ospedale della Pieta, essentially a Venetian orphanage/music school. Circumstance finds the girls in their 20s and married Venice's version of the Montagues and the Capulets: the Ceranos and the Torrisis, between whom was vendetta.

Perhaps the best developed characters in the novel were the Pieta and late 18th-century Venice. Unfortunately, Marietta and Elena were not nearly as well developed as the Pieta and Venice. They are relatively shallow characters with valid but uncomplex motives for their actions.

To me, the most enjoyable part of the story was not the oft-mindless plot, but the glimpses of life in 18th-century Venice. The storyline of this book is not fantastic, but it does seem that Ms. Laker did her research into the life and culture of Venice and, for that, the book was enjoyable.

For the full review, see:
http://devourerofbooks.wordpress.com/... ( )

The Venetian Mask is the story of two friends, Elena and Marietta who meet while at a school for orphaned girls, the Pieta. The story is about their strength as they face life without family only to rely on each other. They marry men from two families who have been rivaling for years and are forced to carry on their friendship behind their husbands' backs.

I would categorize this book as more of a romance novel than historical fiction. I found that the story did not get interesting until three quarters of the way through. The author, at times, tried to hard to make a point which could have been stated in fewer words. ( )

A story with something for some many readers...intrigue, romance (without being a bodice ripper), history, friendship, mystery, drama, etc. I found the characters to be well developed and interesting. Most importantly to me, I cared about the characters.
A favorite read of 2008 for me. I will recommend to look for this on the shelves. ( )

Not my favorite, but not the worst bit of historical fiction I've read. That said, it was only the second Early Reviewers offering that I've received to date and was interested enough in the story to finish.

I was somewhat bored with the first part of the book where Marietta and Elena were mooning over men, but after their marriages, I felt the book gained a bit of steam and my interest was refreshed. I was hard pressed to put it down towards the end, staying up until the wee hours just to see what happened with Elena and Filippo. My favorite part of the book was the descriptions of Venice and the carnival masks. ( )

I’ll start with what I enjoyed. I thought that the idea of the Pieta, a school where orphaned girls are taught music, was an interesting one. I thought some aspects of the girls’ lives there, such as their daydreaming about becoming famous singers, were endearing and interesting. I couldn’t help wishing that the book had gone into it in a bit more detail than it simply being harsh and restrictive. After all, if that’s all there was to it then the fond feelings the women have for it after leaving are a bit out of place. However, the majority of the book happens in the outside world, so I can’t really fault the book for not spending more time inside the Pieta.

I liked the friendship between the girls and the way that they struggled to maintain it, even after becoming connected with feuding families. However, I have to agree with some of the other reviewers that it might have been nice to develop their individual characters a bit more. I also enjoyed the intrigues that emerged in the later part of the book, and found the explanations of different types of masks and what they meant to be interesting.

Like others, I found that the romances fell flat. I suppose, in a way, that offsets the depths of the girls’ friendship, but it also made all the time swooning and seducing a bit tiresome. The writing itself did not impress me either. Some of the dialogue at the beginning was too exposition-heavy for my tastes, and a couple of the lines connected with seduction had me rolling my eyes. I was also a bit let down by the characterization of the ‘bad guys’. This book fell into the trap where, if an individual is ‘bad’, then he is a rapist, a murderer, and cowardly to boot, ruled entirely by his baser appetites, with no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. I think the book might have been stronger if the villains (well, everyone, really) were more fleshed out. However, if you’re in the mood for a quick and entertaining read, then you would probably enjoy The Venetian Mask. ( )

The atmosphere of eighteenth-century Venice is exciting and exotic. It's a world completely different from anything our modern world can offer. Laker provides vivid, lush descriptions of Venetian masks, fashions, architecture, and politics. Through her prose it is easy to envision the world Marietta and Elena live in.

But while Venice is beautifully fleshed out, Marietta and Elena are not. The two women are fairly interchangeable, with no defining characteristic between the two of them. Then men are little better; all men are lusty but the 'good' ones rein in their desire until wedding bells ring and the 'bad' ones rape and take what they want. The characters, in summary, are not particularly likable because they lack dimension and depth. For this same reason, they aren't especially repulsive or horrible, either.

The plot is predictable, but enjoyable. I did have fun reading the book, although the writing is nothing exceptional. The ending is too contrived and ties up far too neatly, but the rest of the novel's pacing and action worked well enough.

Is this a book I'd recommend? No, there are far more I'd mention first. Is it a book I would read again? Probably not. But is it a bad book? Not at all. If someone I know is reading it, I would be happy to discuss the book with them. Anyone reading this review, I'm not at all discouraging you from reading this! Go for it! ( )

This book didn’t start out very well. It opens like a bad romance novel - clustered beautiful, flawless virgins in a convent, daring noblemen who want to steal that virginity, etc. Luckily, The Venetian Mask improves once the plot gets going, about halfway through the book. It centers around two girls, Elena and Marietta, who are best friends immediately after their entry into the convent, and both marry powerful, well-connected men who just happen to have a family vendetta between them. These matters complicate the relations between the friends and what happens next is what comprises the best part of the book.

The beginning feels too much like a summary. The author picks up the lives of the girls at various points, but all she manages to show is that convent life is restrained and boring and as a result the girls fall in love far too easily. As a side note, the love is this book is extremely unrealistic, and mostly consists of what I’d call infatuation. Fairly typical for a romance novel feel. The book follows the girls’ exploits into this love, winding up with them married as mentioned. Only then does the plot get interesting, about 200 pages into the book, so I won’t ruin anything else for other potential readers.

The writing similarly has a romance novel feel. The book isn’t particularly written well and every character has that air of flawless beauty and everlasting sexual attraction. They aren’t particularly compelling personally, either. Both women have strength but in different ways, and neither of them have any discernible flaws. The men are slightly better, but essentially either noble or wicked.

It gets interesting, though. The plot moves quickly once it starts moving and I quite liked it. It becomes fairly clear that this isn’t a romance novel despite its tepid beginning and the variety of relationships that spring up throughout the text. And even though the characters aren’t exciting, I liked the women and I didn’t really want anything to happen to them. The ending was about what I’d expected given the feel of the novel, although executed in a way I didn’t expect.

So, in conclusion, The Venetian Mask is a quick read and fairly enjoyable. I’d probably recommend other historical fiction first, but I certainly wouldn’t dissuade someone from reading the book. ( )