The Venetian Bargain

This book had the right ingredients of historical fiction to make it a story, not boring. Venice during a time of plague, where our heroine encounters danger, romance, self discovery, and the architect Andrea Palladio. Books like this is why I enjoy reading so much.

Oh what a wonderful introduction to Marina Fiorato! I especially enjoyed her attention to historical detail and how vibrant her settings were. The canals of Renaissance Venice, the crowded bazaars of old Constantinople, the opulence of its Sultan’s harem halls, and the sad dorm rooms of plague hospitals all come to incredible life in this woman’s hands. I’d rank her right up there with such greats as Stephanie Thornton and Elizabeth Chadwick. She makes her readers experience the world, not just read about it.

I was also intrigued at how vivid the characters were. Everyone had their attributes and sins, their perks and their tragedies. I found our two main leads especially intriguing. Annibale’s at times very clinical view of his show more patients hides a deep care he also has towards them and their care. Feyra tried to find her way in this new world through many avenues until finding a new home and love on the hospital island. I liked how these two played off each other, discussing their different medical expertise areas and working together ultimately to care for their patients. I think they find something in each other that settles them into this new life and into the future.

The overall story will blow you out of the water. Not only the historical background story with the struggle between Venice and the Turks (of which the only knowledge I had was from the movie Dangerous Beauty), but the story of a woman trying to warn this new city of impending future dangers all the while trying to stay hidden from her possible persecution. Renaissance Venice was not known for its tolerance… There’s also a thread about building a glorious tribute to heaven to stave off God’s plague, the story of two individuals trying to find common ground and save lives, the particulars of the medical field during the Renaissance as it transitioned from the superstition of the Middle Ages to the beginnings of modern thought…. There’s just so much here that the reader will be kept spellbound for a long time.

This book has it all: fantastic characters, relationships that you’ll be invested in, historical setting details that suck you into the story, and different story threads that interweave into a fantastic whole. This has become one of my favorite books of the year, and it’s not hard to see why. High, highly recommended! show less

I adore historical fiction and I adore science, especially the medical sciences, so this book was supposed to be a treat for me. Mix in a strong female protagonist and interesting descriptions of historical medical science and it's supposed to be a hit, right?

Unfortunately, the book is marred by stilted, unrealistic dialogue -- not just by Feyra but by nearly all of the characters. So much so that the uncomfortably unrealistic dialogue distracted me from the book and made it a chore to finish the book.

What I did enjoy were the descriptions of how medical science was handled in 1500s Italy. Just amazing how the doctors wore those costumes and that mask! (I Googled some images; wow!)

Set first in Constantinople and then in Venice in 1576, the story revolves around the real bubonic plague epidemic that hit Venice at that time.  The two main characters, half-Turkish and half-Venetian Feyra, and Annibale Cason (a Venetian doctor), are fictitious.  However, a number of other characters are real: the architect Andrea Palladio; the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Sebastiano Venier, who is Feyra's grand uncle in the story; and Feyra's mother and the Doge's supposed niece (more likely a cousin), the Nurbanu Sultan.  Fiorato altered some of the events of their lives to fit the story.  Some places are real too - the church Palladio was designing, and the Lazzaretto Novo isolation island (formerly known as Vigna Murada), where show more so much of the story takes place, although its origins and use are altered to fit the story.  The author cites sources on Palladio, Ottoman medicine, and the Renaissance medical treatment of plague.  All of this was fascinating, and the story was exciting too.  I'd be glad to read more of Marina Fiorato's historical fiction, if I could find any more in a library.  I didn't care for Pamela Garelick's narration.  Being British, she gave lower-class Italian characters Cockney accents, and the voices of Feyra and older men were all too raspy.  She also read the book far too slowly. show less

Interesting look at the Venice/Constantinople connection, the treatment of the plague, and the contest between Christianity and Islam. Informative, great background, a bit suspenseful.

Another evocative story of Venice by Marina Fiorato which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Amusing!

I have read all Marina Fiorato's previous books. I love them.

I feel the title is not very apt. However, the plot and the narration are wonderful.

The book has everything I look for in a Medieval Historical fiction.