The Venice Sketchbook | Finished Reading
Finished reading the latest book from Rhys Bowen and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found her books a few years ago while browsing the Kindle Unlimited Library and have read quite a few. I'm a sucker for historical fictions set around WWII. I read this book via Kindle Unlimited since I recently re-subscribed to the service. There are times when other things take precedence and I don't read enough to warrant the subscription fee. I'm currently in a "read everything I can get my hands on" mood.
The Venice Sketchbook is one of those novels that bounces back and forth between present day circumstances and the past. We meet Caroline Grant who is struggling to find meaning in her life after her husband decides that the marriage is smothering him. He does a runner to America after being part of a fashion competition. As if dealing with a failed marriage isn't enough, Caroline sends their young son to visit his father for the summer of 2001. Then the terrorist attacks on the U.S. happen, her son can't return because flights are grounded. Once flights are permitted again, her ex-husband claims that their son is seeing a therapist and he's too traumatized to fly. Caroline receives news from her Grandmother that her Great-Aunt Lettie has taken a turn for the worse, so Caroline travels to see her. A deathbed conversation with Aunt Lettie leads to Caroline travelling to Venice, Italy.
The past narrative of the book focuses on Juliet "Lettie" Browning, a.k.a. Caroline's Great-Aunt and her visits to Venice in 1928, 1938 and 1939. Lettie is taken to Venice as a gift for her 18th birthday. While visiting the city, Juliet meets Leo, son of a wealthy shipping family. In a span of a few days they fall in love but when her chaperone Aunt discovers that Juliet climbed out of a window to meet the young man, the visit to Venice ends abruptly and she is forced to move on to the next leg of their vacation. She manages to get a letter to Leo before leaving.
While I enjoyed the book in general I found that Juliet's story was much more interesting than Caroline's. It could be that I'm just more interested in the pre-WWII setting and enjoy the history aspect. But Caroline's story bored me a bit and I felt myself slogging through her chapters just to get to Juliet's chapters. I wanted to know more details about her life in Venice during the beginning of WWII. A story with just Juliet's story would have been perfect in my humble opinion. I enjoy Rhys Bowen's books because the history doesn't fight with an overwhelming, soap-opera style love story. I'm not a fan of the romance genre at all.
I'd give this 3.75 stars on a scale of 5.
