Third the First :: The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice :: Laurel Corona

Walking through a Dollar General store on my lunchbreak, I stumble upon the book section.  Work is boring.  Should I grab a book of crossword puzzles?  Sudoku?  Perhaps a coloring book?  My eyes land on a novel sporting a ghastly bright yellow "$3" sticker on the front.  Back cover price: $14.95.  That's quite a difference, I think to myself.  Hmm...The Four Seasons, huh?  A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice?  Do I dare?

I did dare, and I'm glad.  Turns out you simply cannot judge a book by the discount sticker on its cover. 

Laurel Corona's book is set in 18th-century Venice, Italy.  This is a time period I've had much luck with in my previous reading.  Not Victorian-era stuffy, I can truly enjoy losing myself in such a setting.  From the beginning, Corona's narrative is paced well, her attention to detail paints rich pictures in your mind as though a film is running before your eyes, and she's a wonderful storyteller.

The book centers around Chiaretta and Maddalena, two young sisters laid down at the mercy of the Ospedale della Pietà, refuge of Venice's abandoned children literally translated as "Hospital of Mercy," and rooted in the Church.  Watching the two grow within the walls of the Pietà does not take long, and the differences between the two young ladies is evident from the beginning.  Their separate struggles to imagine a future for themselves outside the realm of a convent takes them on slightly different paths during their everyday lives, however reunites them side by side nightly, sharing secret joys and defeats as only sisters can.

The Ospedale della Pietà teaches its girls lacemaking, embroidery, and music, preparing them for one of three paths: either they will catch the eye of a wealthy Venetian suitor and marry, become a teacher of future orphans and live forever within the care of the Ospedale, or devote themselves to the Convent.  Music is their best chance of being noticed and finding a husband, and both girls are lucky enough to be musically inclined and find their own niches, Chiaretta's being her voice and Maddalena falling madly in love with the violin.

Now, remember how I said that Corona's narration was detail-infused?  I haven't read up on this author yet, but I cannot help but believe that she has ample experience in both voice and violin; if not, her research is superb.  Someone once told me that they wished they knew "what it felt like to sing," which left me wondering: How does one explain the emotion that comes with singing?  With playing any instrument, but specifically violin?  I've done both, and I have no words, except that you must experience it for yourself.  Either Corona has first-hand experience, or an amazing imagination.  Her writing reveals the experience of being a musician so simply, as though one asked what does the wind on one's face feel like? and was answered with an open window and Spring's cool breeze instantly across one's cheek.

Superb.  Fantastic.  I feel the need to brush the dust off of my violin and pull out some old sheet music.

To wrap this up before this entry outlengthens the 120 pages that make up the first third of the book, let me touch on Antonio Vivaldi's role in the book.  Firstly, I adore novels that take historical figures and bring them to life in a narrative.  You thought you knew Vivaldi's music, right?  What about the man who wrote the masterpieces?  I'm not talking about cracking open a musical history book.  I've been there, done that, and wanted to gag myself.  I'm suggesting reading a story based on a historical figure's real life. Based on meaning with liberties, but all the same I think the idea is to realize or remind yourself that a living, breathing person with dramas not unlike our own made a name for themselves, and a legacy lasting centuries.

NEXT ENTRY:  Find out about Vivaldi's love interest, plus--is this just another book revealing the corruptness of the Church?