Vivaldi's Virgins

" In Barbara Quick's luminous new novel, Vivaldi's Venice--la Serenissima--is at the height of its splendor and decadence. The legendary Grand Inquisitor rules by fear, and yet festivity is the city's trademark. Sober piety marks one half of the year; the music, masks, and revelry of the Carnival mark the other. It is a city of stark contrasts and mystery, especially to Anna Maria Violina, a 15-year-old orphan student of Maestro Vivaldi's and our eyes on Venice in the last days of the Republic. Like all the orphan musicians of the Ospedale della Pieta, Anna Maria is named for the instrument she plays. Her origins unknown, she nonetheless writes letters to her mother in the hope that she will find her again one day. Enchanted by Vivaldi, the electrifying "Red Priest" whose name would later be tarnished by scandal, and the world that lies beyond the convent doors, the adolescent Anna Maria embarks on a journey of personal and artistic awakening, through the dance halls of the elite and the ghettos of the Jewish poor, uncovering her mysterious past and the key to her uncertain future. In the tradition of the international bestseller Girl With a Pearl Earring, Quick's Vivaldi's Virgins pairs the seductive lost world of a creative legend with the coming of age of a young girl guided by an artistic soul of her own. ""Quick, Barbara is the author of 'Vivaldi's Virgins ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780060890520 and ISBN 0060890525.