2.0
Venetian Vespers
ByPublisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • IRISH BESTSELLER • A masterful, enthralling new novel from the Booker Prize winner
“A stylish escapade that even Henry James might relish." —Wall Street Journal
Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me. . . .
1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman—a hack, by his own description—marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch’s death, leads to her disinheritance.
The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo. From their first moments in the mist-blanketed floating city, otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn’s already jangled nerves fray further. Where has Laura disappeared to? How to explain the increasingly sinister circumstances closing around him? Could he be losing his mind?
Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric novel from one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.
“A stylish escapade that even Henry James might relish." —Wall Street Journal
Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me. . . .
1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman—a hack, by his own description—marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch’s death, leads to her disinheritance.
The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo. From their first moments in the mist-blanketed floating city, otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn’s already jangled nerves fray further. Where has Laura disappeared to? How to explain the increasingly sinister circumstances closing around him? Could he be losing his mind?
Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric novel from one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesVenetian Vespers Reviews
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Jessica Wulzen
Created 14 days agoShare
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Emma Kelly
Created about 2 months agoShare
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“Beautifully written, but I’m at 76% and nothing has happened. I think I’ll dnf. I can’t justify continuing solely on the writing.
Thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for the early copy”

Roguemum
Created about 2 months agoShare
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Janelle
Created 2 months agoShare
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“Evelyn Dorman and his new wife, Laura travel to Venice for their honeymoon in 1899. The whole book is narrated by Evelyn who reveals himself to be a totally unlikeable man so it’s hard to feel in any way upset for what follows!(actually all the characters are pretty awful). It’s a dramatic setting and mysterious atmosphere makes it almost a compulsive read without being really invested in the outcome.”

Catarina Sousa
Created 8 months agoShare
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About John Banville
JOHN BANVILLE, the author of numerous novels, has been the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Nonino International Prize, a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He lives in Dublin.
Other books by John Banville
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