A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century

I was bored to tears by this one. It’s the nonfiction account of a love affair that took place in the 18th century in Venice. The author wrote the book after his father found a collection of letters between their ancestor, a Venetian nobleman, and a young woman. It started out strong and quickly pulled me in, but soon the story was bogged down with a nonstop back and forth.

The melodrama between the lovers, the restraints of their society and their different social classes made the whole thing impossible. I felt like the book could have been much shorter, but the author wanted to include every scrap of correspondence he had between the two.

BOTTOM LINE: The story is interesting because it’s nonfiction, but it should have been much show more shorter. What should be a fast-paced love story quickly became a tedious tug-of-war. show less

What an unexpected gem of a book! Based on the correspondence of the two lovers, it tells the sorry of a 17th century romance between a venetian patrician and his lover, high class, but not marriageable by the arcane rules of Venice at thetime. It is written by a direct descendant of the male "lead" who wonderfully manages to stay out of sight, to faithfully document the life and love affair of the protagonists with embellishing the tale, and still produce a riveting and fascinating story. The only licence taken is to render the translations of the letters in current colloquial English.
In his hands the love affair becomes timeless, and the characters so vibrant and alive. This is truly a magical achievement. Read March 2013.

This book started out with so much promise. A box of love letters two hundred years old is found in a Venice family's palace attic. That alone is enough to stir interest. However, once the author starts to piece together the stories of the letters' authors, Andrea Memmo and Giustiniana Wynne, the tale becomes incessantly dull. It's a lot of back and forth. Yes, we can be together. No, we can't. On and on it goes until the reader gets so tired of this tale. Yes, the two principal characters loved each other. Of that there is no doubt. But, was that love story, with no possible chance of a happy ending, worthy of a book? I think not. Still, the snippets of Venetian life contained in the book are fascinating to read about.

I just finished The Venetian Affair, and i have to say a loud huzzah! for the adept writing of Andrea Di Robilant. Brilliant writing pieces together the letters, and his work in understanding their lives as well as their voices is commendable. The book ought to be required reading of any aspiring historian, as it relies on primary documents, is well-research, well-cited, and anything but dry. The voices of the clandestine lovers comes through amid the tapestry of mid-eighteenth century venice, spans the decline of the great city and is practically a primer on social and political life in England and on the Continent during the Seven Years' War. Finally, as the letters cease, Andrea Di Robilant does not leave the story there, but show more researches out the end of their lives, seeing her return to Italy, his rise in politics in Venice, her growing literary career, and ending ultimately with a quote from her penultimate letter.

Brilliantly done, it reads well. Not only does Di Robilant care about this long-ago couple and their passions, positions and persecution, the reader is impervious to help but care about them as well. As a work of history, Di Robilant suceeds masterfully; as a first work at all, it soars. show less

Another book set in Venice, which I thoroughly loved, is A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant. Di Robilant uses a trove of love letters from the eighteenth century to weave a tale of romance and intrigue in "the twilight of the golden era of Venice". The letters belonged to an ancestor of the Di Robilant family. Some were in code which Andrea and his father had to break before reading them. This is the best book about Venice I have ever read, bar none (even Shakespeare). The cast of characters are vibrant and include famous clergy, aristocrats and even Casanova. Obviously a good part of the story had to be imagined but Mr. Di Robilant has done a masterful job of blending old and new.

Beautifully researched and very well written. This book was sometimes humourous while still providing a great deal of insight into European cultural norms and politics of the day. Certainly among the "less dry" historical biographies I've read.

This book is great. This story is interesting to read, as most of it is told through the actual letters exchanged by the two people. I found it very easy to read, and it seemed more like a fiction novel than a biography – but it is indeed a biography. That the people in the book actually existed, and lived through the events described gave it such an intimate feel. Having their own words describe their feelings and their lives was very unique.