I’ve never been to Venice and other than canals i know nothing about the place, so i can say that’s not required to enjoy this book.

Our protagonist, Luca, is the oldest son of one of Venices finest gondola makers, and when he completely burns his bridges (literally) on his future at his family’s squero he is left homeless and penniless. Refusing to leave the city he needs to find a way to survive and rebuild his life.

We then follow Luca’s ups and downs as he takes the reader on a journey around 16th century Venice through every layer of life.

It’s certainly not a book of twists and turns and subplots and stuff, it’s really quite a simple story. But it is a wonderfully written story that gives the reader a real feel of life in Venice from the view of the working gondoliers and those they interact with that make this book so compelling. ( )

Set in 16th century Venice, the son of a gondola maker causes a fire in his father's shop and must find a new path for his life. What I enjoyed...being transported to Venice. ( )

Set in 16th century Venice, this book tells the story of Luca, the son of a gondola maker. When he quarrels with his father and accidentally burns down their boatyard, he knows he's in trouble. He runs away, determined to succeed in life without his family. He works at several jobs before landing a position as a private gondolier to a famous painting. He is immediately intrigued with a woman the painter is utilizing and seeks to learn all he can about her. At the same time, he finds an old beat-up gondola in the artist's boathouse and begins to restore it.

This was a very well written book but I have to wonder about the ending. It was a bit odd and a bit abrupt. The author leaves us wondering about the girl, an important part of the plot. I think this book is more geared towards young adults. It is certainly an interesting view on the city of Venice and the gondolier profession. ( )

I was immediately transported back to Venice as I poured through the pages of the Gondola Maker. Morelli's descriptive tome brings the sights, sounds, and smells of 16th Century Venice alive as she takes us on a Luca's journey. Luca's character is engaging as he transverses life, loss, family and fortune. ( )

bookshelves: currently-reading, e-book, historical-fiction, italy, venice, winter-20132014, net-galley, published-2013, under-10-ratings, art-forms, love, conflagration
Read from January 12 to 17, 2014

Netgalley/Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Members' Titles

Dedication: Dedicated to those whose hearts propel their hand

From the description: “I was not supposed to be the eldest son, but here I am, the accidental heir to my father’s boatyard. I consider it nothing short of a miracle that I am here at all.”

Luca Vianello is the heir to the city’s most esteemed gondola boatyard. It’s his life’s calling, his duty to his father and the generations that came before him.

But when his mother dies in childbirth, a lifetime of resentment boils to the surface. In an argument with his father, Luca accidentally sets fire to the boatyard. In an instant, his life, his destiny, goes up in flames.

Alone for the first time, Luca secures a job as a private gondolier to a portrait painter. He discovers a dilapidated gondola in the shadows of the artist’s boathouse. He recognizes it as an antique made in his own family boatyard--by his own grandfather’s hands.

Luca finds himself drawn to restore the old gondola with the dream of taking a beautiful girl for a ride. He doesn't know that the girl, the daughter of a rich banker who has come to the artist's studio to sit for a portrait, has a plan of her own.

Opening: VENICE 1574: I chew my lower lip while I wait to see my father's gondola catch fire.

Yep - she wrote 'while' not 'whilst'; picky wench am I not. First person singular on the go too. This will have to work hard to garner my attention.

Author website

Book Trailer

So after a long trawl north in a blizzard I reach the end of this book. Whilst both journeys, the physical and the read, were uneventful both were delightful. So in a northernish Swedish city called Sundsval I tell you that this read was lovely, unexpectably interesting and I now feel that I could take some wood and form a gondola, oil it up and fashion some oars, furnish it and giggle behind the curtains. Yet here I am looking at a viking longboat, just as lovingly created, yet with no nod to comfort.

Hah

Life is a circle, and this aspect is on full display in this lovely read. Try it out yourself.

3.5* ( )