Well I have had a tough time with books recently but this one helped me out and perked me up a lot. This was a great story set in both the present-day and the
1600's and is about a young American woman who is researching The Spanish Conspiracy in Venice and also an important Venetian courtesan.
Publishers Weekly states "When the Venetian courtesan Alessandra Rossetti wrote a letter that exposed the 1618 Spanish Conspiracy, Venice was saved. Four hundred years later in Phillips's lovingly researched half-historical, half-contemporary debut, Claire Donovan, an American graduate student, struggles to finish her dissertation on the courtesan's brave act. Claire attends a Venice conference to check out the work of British superstar historian Andrew Kent, who sees Rossetti as nothing more than the pawn of very powerful men in a diplomatic double cross: once Andrew's work is published, his ideas could derail Claire's fledgling career. Phillips, developing parallel plots, unspools Alessandra's story directly to the reader in detail denied Claire and Andrew, who overcome their initial animosity to solve the greater mystery."
I loved that the book went from one voice to another; one era to another. It made the book flow better and made it really interesting to read. I was always captivated and always entertained. I am a little iffy on historical fiction - I do enjoy it but it has to keep my attention. I have to make sure that I pick the right book (or that the right book picks me!) But I do love when history meets the present day. The characters were also funny and really developed. I also enjoyed the fact that the ending was left open for future books. I can't wait to read the next book that features Claire called "The Devlin Diary"!
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