Venetian Vespers

A Novel

By: John Banville

Narrated by: Luke Thompson

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • A NEW YORKER RECOMMENDED BOOK • IRISH BESTSELLER

“A stylish escapade that even Henry James might relish." —Wall Street Journal

A masterful, enthralling new novel from the Booker Prize winner

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.

Bravo

A well written novel delivered superbly. Having recently from Venice. We can only hope for a sequel.

Great performance of a middling story

Great performance but the story was ultimately unsatisfying - very clever deception with a morally compromised victim, yet it ultimately felt a bit pointless

Slow

Everything was just ok. I would not recommend this book. Characters were not believable was my opinion.

Dim view of Venice

Dim view of Venice. Not the Venice I know. That it’s a Disneyworld for adults. A mystery of sorts with a twisted solution. A murder perhaps or two murders perhaps. The protagonist seems a fool. A possible solution is presented, but is it. The protagonist develops an infected thumb bit that is never explained.

Banville at his best

The sympathy for Evelyn Dolman builds slowly to eventually tip the disappointment one feels in him as the story progressed. A good solid story and a satisfying ending.