The Gondola Maker

FROM A USA TODAY BESTELLING AUTHOR Award-winning historical fiction set in 16th-century Venice Benjamin Franklin Digital Award IPPY Award for Best Adult Fiction E-book National Indie Excellence Award Finalist Eric Hoffer Award Finalist Shortlisted for the da Vinci Eye Prize From the author of Made in Italy comes a tale of artisanal tradition and family bonds set in one of the world's most magnificent settings: Renaissance VeniceVenetian gondola-maker Luca Vianello considers his whole life arranged. His father charted a course for his eldest son from the day he was born, and Luca is positioned to inherit one of the city's most esteemed boatyards. Soon he will marry the daughter of an artisan prow-maker, securing a key business alliance for the family. But when Luca experiences an unexpected tragedy in the boatyard, he believes that his destiny lies elsewhere. Soon he finds himself drawn to restore an antique gondola with the dream of taking a girl for a ride. The Gondola Maker brings the centuries-old art of gondola-making to life in the tale of a young man's complicated relationship with his master-craftsman father.Lovers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details of gondola craftsmanship, along with an intimate first-person narrative set against the richly textured backdrop of 16th-century Venice.

Award-winning historical fiction set in 16th-century Venice -Benjamin Franklin Digital Award -IPPY Award for Best Adult Fiction E-book -National Indie Excellence Award Finalist -Eric Hoffer Award Finalist -Shortlisted for the da Vinci Eye Prize From the author of Made in Italy comes a tale of artisanal tradition and family bonds set in one of the world's most magnificent settings: Renaissance Venice. Venetian gondola-maker Luca Vianello considers his whole life arranged. His father charted a course for his eldest son from the day he was born, and Luca is positioned to inherit one of the city’s most esteemed boatyards. Soon he will marry the daughter of an artisan prow-maker, securing a key business alliance for the family. But when Luca experiences an unexpected tragedy in the boatyard, he believes that his destiny lies elsewhere. Soon he finds himself drawn to restore an antique gondola with the dream of taking a girl for a ride. The Gondola Maker brings the centuries-old art of gondola-making to life in the tale of a young man's complicated relationship with his master-craftsman father. Lovers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details of gondola craftsmanship, along with an intimate first-person narrative set against the richly textured backdrop of 16th-century Venice. "I'm a big fan of Venice, so I appreciate Laura Morelli's special knowledge of the city, the period, and the process of gondola-making. An especially compelling story." --Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun "Laura Morelli has done her research, or perhaps she was an Italian carpenter in another life. One can literally smell and feel the grain of finely turned wood in her hands." --Pamela Sheldon Johns, author of Italian Food Artisans "Romance, intrigue, family loyalty, pride, and redemption set against the backdrop of Renaissance Italy." --Library of Clean Reads "Beautiful, powerful evocation of the characters, the place, and the time. An elegant and thoroughly engaging narrative voice." --Mark Spencer, author of Fiction Club: A Concise Guide to Writing Good Fiction

Venice, 1510. The daughter of a master gilder hides a secret inside a renowned painter's studio, but the Black Death foils her plans.

USA Today Bestseller "This is a truly original novel that has earned its place among my favorite works of historical fiction."--Jennifer Robson, USA Today bestselling author of The Gown An exciting, dual-timeline historical novel about the creation of one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings, Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, and the woman who fought to save it from Nazi destruction during World War II. Milan, 1492: When a 16-year old beauty becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan, she must fight for her place in the palace—and against those who want her out. Soon, she finds herself sitting before Leonardo da Vinci, who wants to ensure his own place in the ducal palace by painting his most ambitious portrait to date. Munich, World War II: After a modest conservator unwittingly places a priceless Italian Renaissance portrait into the hands of a high-ranking Nazi leader, she risks her life to recover it, working with an American soldier, part of the famed Monuments Men team, to get it back. Two women, separated by 500 years, are swept up in the tide of history as one painting stands at the center of their quests for their own destinies.

Magic lies at the heart of Cassaforte, a medieval city resembling Venice. Risa Divetri will soon leave home to study the family craft—creating and enchanting glass objects. But when Cassaforte’s age-old magic unravels and corruption threatens their kingdom, Risa’s untapped powers rise to the surface—leading her toward her true fate.

Summer in Venice is brutal, and the heat is beginning to drive the people of this quiet city mad. A woman storms into the galleries at the Biennale art fair and slashes a painting with a knife. A young girl is found raped and murdered in her own bed. And a model named Flavia Brollo appears at the home of Urbino Macintyre’s closest friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, to declare that she is the noblewoman’s illegitimate daughter. It is an outrageous declaration, and it will mean the contessa’s doom. When Flavia is found floating in the canal, Macintyre dedicates himself to finding the person who murdered this poor, disturbed woman. His inquiries lead him back to the Biennale, where the art world’s most powerful figures congregate to buy, sell, and indulge their darkest desires. Before the fair is over, Macintyre will discover that even murder can be a work of art.

'Lyrical, heartrending and compelling' JOJO MOYES on Recipe for Life Kat is an adventurer, a food writer who travels the world visiting far-flung places and eating unusual things. Now she is about to embark on her biggest adventure yet - a relationship. She has fallen in love with an Italian man and is moving to live with him in Venice where she will help him run his small guesthouse, Hotel Gondola. Kat has lined up a book deal and will write about the first year of her new adventure, the food she eats, the recipes she collects, the people she meets, the man she doesn't really know all that well but is going to make a life with. But as Kat ought to know by now, the thing about adventures is that they never go exactly the way you expect them to... The perfect romantic comedy to curl up with this autumn, for fans of Jill Mansell, Katie Fforde and Jo Thomas. ****** Your favourite authors love Nicky Pellegrino's feel-good stories: 'Warm, engaging and truly delicious' Rosanna Ley, author of The Little Theatre by the Sea 'A delicious and sensual adventure' Fiona Gibson, author of The Woman Who Met Her Match 'Wonderfully evocative' Pamela Hartshorne, author of The Cursed Wife

Patricia A. Cooper charts the course of competition, conflict, and camaraderie among American cigar makers during the two decades that preceded mechanization of their work. In the process, she reconstructs the work culture, traditions, and daily lives of the male cigar makers who were members of the Cigar Makers' International Union of America (CMIU) and of the nonunion women who made cigars under a division of labor called the "team system." But Cooper not only examines the work lives of these men and women, she also analyzes their relationship to each other and to their employers during these critical years of the industry's transition from hand craft to mass production."