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52nd out of 533 books
—
1,389 voters
Daughter of Venice
by
Donna Jo Napoli (Goodreads Author)
In 1592, Donata is a noble girl living in a palazzo on the Grand Canal. Girls of her class receive no education and rarely leave the palazzo. In a noble family, only one daughter and one son will be allowed to marry; Donata, like all younger daughters, will be sent to a convent. Donata longs to be tutored like her brothers and to see the Venice she has glimpsed only on the...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
December 9th 2003
by Laurel Leaf
(first published January 1st 2001)
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Oct 18, 2008
Stephanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone who enjoys action and conflict
Usually, I do not enjoy Historical Fiction novels, but Daughter of Venice was an exception. The author, Donna Jo Napoli, did a tremendous job explaining the setting and characters, making the plot and characters come to life. I found myself predicting throughout the entire book, there was a lot of action and twists.
The story was about a fourteen year old girl, Donata, who lives during the 1590s in Venice. She is a noble daughter, and in noble families only one daughter and son may marry. Althoug...more
The story was about a fourteen year old girl, Donata, who lives during the 1590s in Venice. She is a noble daughter, and in noble families only one daughter and son may marry. Althoug...more
Jul 09, 2012
Melanie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
children-s-literature,
italy,
venice,
historical-fiction,
jewish-people,
families,
brothers-sisters,
gender-role,
secrets,
twins,
friends,
europe
Donata is the 16-year-old daughter of a Venetian noble. She has 7 brothers and 4 sisters. Her oldest sister, Andriana, will be the one to marry. One sister will be the one who stays home to care for the eventual nieces and nephews. The rest of the girls? They will all go to convents.
Donata does not want to go to a convent. The idea of being shut up for the rest of her life makes her crazy. But then, a miracle! A suitable husband is found for Donata as well! But wait, Donata does not want to marr...more
Donata does not want to go to a convent. The idea of being shut up for the rest of her life makes her crazy. But then, a miracle! A suitable husband is found for Donata as well! But wait, Donata does not want to marr...more
(This review also appears on Amazon.co.uk)
This is the captivating tale of bold, brash noblewoman Donata, a teenager desperate to obtain some degree of freedom in 15th Century Venice before she is ultimately shipped away to join a convent by her strictly traditional family.
Eager to learn and explore her home city of which she can only imagine through maps, paintings and stories told by her uncles and elder brothers, Donata knows that her future and that of her younger sisters also, is entirely pl...more
This is the captivating tale of bold, brash noblewoman Donata, a teenager desperate to obtain some degree of freedom in 15th Century Venice before she is ultimately shipped away to join a convent by her strictly traditional family.
Eager to learn and explore her home city of which she can only imagine through maps, paintings and stories told by her uncles and elder brothers, Donata knows that her future and that of her younger sisters also, is entirely pl...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Daughter of Venice is an interesting story about a pampered Renaissance noble, Donata, in Venice. She is not content with a lot of the norms that there are in her society (such as only one daughter and one son can marry). She always hears of life from other people, but she never experiences it herself. She decides to disguise herself as a poor boy, and she finds herself in the Jewish ghetto and makes a friend who gives her a job as a scribe, even though she doesn't know how to read.
She ends up l...more
She ends up l...more
This YA novel was interesting because the Venice of the late 1500s is unknown to me. Seems to be a theme of mine this summer to read books about girls in eras of suppression and what they do to break free or co-exist (but as usual any real change has to come when the males of the family agree—be it from persuasion by the female or his astounding ‘liberal’ viewpoints).
Enjoyed the girl’s relationship with her siblings—reminded me of mine growing up. Although we teased and perhaps tormented each o...more
Enjoyed the girl’s relationship with her siblings—reminded me of mine growing up. Although we teased and perhaps tormented each o...more
I really wanted to like this book more than I did, and wish that I could give a 2.5 star rating instead of 3. The book was hard to get through for a few reasons. The first being that the protagonist, Donata, seemed to waver between a bratty child a and a witty teen. Her character is 14 years old, but her voice often appeared as that of an 11 year old. While the random facts/lessons on Venetian history were interesting, not all of the facts were pertinent(thought interesting) to the telling of Do...more
I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK!!!
I wish I could write a proper review someday, with character analysis and everything, but you'll just have to settle with this.
Donata was a REAL PERSON (not REAL real, but PERSONALITY real. This is really important if you want your readers to not burn your book.)
She had fire.
She had guts.
She was a girl pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a boy.
She was awesome.
Her awesomeness radiated from the pages as I read, and I wanted to be in 1592 Ve...more
I wish I could write a proper review someday, with character analysis and everything, but you'll just have to settle with this.
Donata was a REAL PERSON (not REAL real, but PERSONALITY real. This is really important if you want your readers to not burn your book.)
She had fire.
She had guts.
She was a girl pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a boy.
She was awesome.
Her awesomeness radiated from the pages as I read, and I wanted to be in 1592 Ve...more
At first, this book did not seem as enticing as the ever dramatic Red Necklace. (I got them together at the library, recommended by my sis.) But after reading deep into it, I realized it was as intense and sad as Red Necklace was.
It's a story of a young noble girl named Donata living in Venice a long time ago. It's a custom that only the oldest daughter of the family gets the privilege to marry, but Laura (Donata's twin) and Donata's only dream is to marry just like Andriana (the oldest).
News...more
It's a story of a young noble girl named Donata living in Venice a long time ago. It's a custom that only the oldest daughter of the family gets the privilege to marry, but Laura (Donata's twin) and Donata's only dream is to marry just like Andriana (the oldest).
News...more
This novel set in 1592 Venice traces the story of
younger daughter in a noble family who longs to break the bounds set so firmly around her actions by her noble birth and the attitudes toward women of her society and class. She dresses as a boy to wander the streets and canals of Venice having adventures, but those adventures bring challenges she has no way of foreseeing, challenges to her preconceived ideas, her prejudices, and her way of life. This well researched novel presents a vivid picture...more
younger daughter in a noble family who longs to break the bounds set so firmly around her actions by her noble birth and the attitudes toward women of her society and class. She dresses as a boy to wander the streets and canals of Venice having adventures, but those adventures bring challenges she has no way of foreseeing, challenges to her preconceived ideas, her prejudices, and her way of life. This well researched novel presents a vivid picture...more
I happened upon this book on night when I was terribly bored. I had nothing to read so searching the downstairs bookshelf I picked up this book. I Had picked it up many times before but never started to read it. So I decided to give it a chance. I loved it.
This book was loaned to me by a friend, and I finished it in an evening. It's obviously written for ten to twelve-year-olds or so; and as a young adult I could barely stomach it. If I read one more book in which the main female character disguises herself as a boy in order to have adventures/get work/get an education/go to war/visit her beloved/anything else at all, I will throw it out the window. Historical detail was present but rather sparse. There was little to mark it as specific to the lat...more
I really enjoyed this book. It is set in Renaissance Venice and gives an intriguing peek into the lives of the nobles, their interactions with other classes (particularly the jews), and the roles given to noble youth based on their gender. They have an interesting family structure--they all act for the good of the family, but available roles become filled quickly and it leaves very little personal choice. Our heroine is searching for a role that won't lead her into a convent; she is also trying...more
This was such BAD book maybe the author should stop writing!I didn't like that the main character, who was 14, acted like an 10 year old. I am sorry, but she was sooooo annoying. She was crying she couldn't get married, but when she finally can marry someone she doesn't want to. Second all this history made me feel like i am in school......not that i hate school as much as this book. Some pages it was just history. Third the author got her facts all mixed up. She said that Albrecht Durer was Dut...more
I was fortunate enough to find an English copy of this book in a small second hand bookshop in Venice when I was there earlier this year! How amazing it was to read this book as I strolled around the very city it was set in, a few hundred years before! I think I would name Donna as someone I would most like to have lunch with one day, given the opportunity! Her ability to blend an amazing amount of historical research within an exceptionally crafted story is second only to the passion that I fee...more
Donata is adrift, cloistered in her family home and destined for life in a convent. Confronted with her brothers' lives of purpose, activity and exploration, she determines to discover Venice on her own, instead of through their tales.
I love the girl disguised as a boy plot device, and this one played out well with tenderness and poignancy. This book brings to life the historical people and setting without clothing them in unrealistic, contemporary attitudes. The plot, historical details, and c...more
I love the girl disguised as a boy plot device, and this one played out well with tenderness and poignancy. This book brings to life the historical people and setting without clothing them in unrealistic, contemporary attitudes. The plot, historical details, and c...more
This is... okay. Enjoyable, but, and I hate to say it, pretty predictable. When I was a kid, Donna Jo Napoli always had these really clever twists that threw me. I can't tell if I grew up or if this was just an off book, but I could tell where this was going the whole time.
I do want to give her props for not resolving the romance the way she could, and in fact backgrounding it as much as she could. Still, overall, the resolution felt-- convienent, and obvious, and the whole story felt ever so s...more
I do want to give her props for not resolving the romance the way she could, and in fact backgrounding it as much as she could. Still, overall, the resolution felt-- convienent, and obvious, and the whole story felt ever so s...more
Jan 12, 2013
Kim N - Lost-In-A-Book
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2013-reads
I was surprised at the depth of this book. It is so much more than it appears on the surface, much like it's leading lady, Donata. This is a wonderful story of progress and change, but not change simply for the sake of change. Change that truly improves the lives of people. I loved the relationship this noble family had with each other, they were close and protective of each other, but that does not mean they were without conflict. I loved the character, Noe. What a kind loving soul. I'm not sur...more
The color and fascination of 16th-century Venice come to life in this beautifully written novel of a young girl's determination to pursue a career denied women of her time. Donata's unflinching determination to pursue her dream takes her, and the reader, on a daring adventure filled with drama and suspense.
I could hardly put this book down, so absorbed did it keep me from beginning to end. And although this is a young adult novel, I would recommend it for readers of any age who are interested in...more
I could hardly put this book down, so absorbed did it keep me from beginning to end. And although this is a young adult novel, I would recommend it for readers of any age who are interested in...more
I really liked the writing but it was too off for me. I'm a 14 year old but i feel like the charater really is 11 and immature. Also i couldn't finish it because it made me rediculously mad that women had such a restricted range of rights. I don't know....I'm not a feminist or anything but it eas all i could think about as i was reading and i didn't keep my attention. So, I didn't like it, especially the end (Isipped ahead and read only little parts here and there) because i felt like it was too...more
I hope that this book is accurate because she paints an amazing picture of venice in the 15th century. As Donata explores Venice and discovers all that really exists in the city she has always loved, and still loves despite all the realities she never knew existed,I watched as her mind expanded and she grew up and learnes what it means to be who you really are. I really enjoyed this one. I was hesitant to read it because I read her book on the story of repunzel and didn't really like it.Completl...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was very effective in bringing the culture and society of Venice at the time to vivid life, and had a nicely developed plot to add to the story.
The historical details and the way facts were dealt with were, for me, one of the great highlights of the book. Social settings, facts, etc. are integrated quite nicely into the story – there are no clear contextualising paragraphs and then story paragraphs followed by more contextualising paragraphs. It all fits in quite w...more
The historical details and the way facts were dealt with were, for me, one of the great highlights of the book. Social settings, facts, etc. are integrated quite nicely into the story – there are no clear contextualising paragraphs and then story paragraphs followed by more contextualising paragraphs. It all fits in quite w...more
Donata and her sister, Laura, are the 2nd and 3rd daughters born to a wealthy Venetian family during the Renaissance. Custom decrees that only the 1st and possibly 2nd daughters in a family may marry. All others are sent off to convents when they come of age. Donata doesn't particularly want to marry anyone, but she definitely doesn't want to be stuck in a convent, where she will never learn about the world. She especially wants to learn to read and write and understand her dear city, just like...more
This book, Daughter of Venice, is about a 14 year old girl, Donata, who lives in Venice, Italy in the 16th century who does not think like most girls of her time. She wants an education, she wants to go outside her palazzo and have fun and adventures. But girls of noble families in Venice at this time did not go outside their homes without at least their mother with them, they were not educated, they were not encouraged to be curious or to do much of anything other than marry and have children....more
I really loved this story. It starts off slow and never really turns into a grizzly Hunger Games sort of book but it's got all the nuances and moods of the more classic YA books that I used to read when I was younger. I loved it. I loved Donata’s inquisitiveness, her willingness to wear male outfits and prowl the streets/canals of Venice, her relationship with Noa and the Ghetto, and all the historical information Donna Jo Napoli adds into the mix.
This was an average YA historical novel. I don't really have much to say about it because I wasn't "wowed" by it nor did I dislike it. It follows Donata in 1592 Venice. She is one of many daughters in a noble family in a time when dowries were of great import. Basically all the dowry money is going towards marrying off her older sister so Donata and her female siblings are looking at life in a convent stuck inside looking out all the time.
Donata dons the attire of a fisher boy and runs the stre...more
Donata dons the attire of a fisher boy and runs the stre...more
The setting for this story is Venice in the late 1500's. Donata is a daughter in a nobleman's house. She has 11 siblings. In the society of Venice at this time only one son and one daughter will marry. Donata is destined for a convent. She is a girl blessed with a seeking and curious mind. She has been sheltered in her palazzo all of her life and knows only what she has glimpsed on a map or what her older brothers have told her about the storied city in which she lives. She devises a plan to per...more
Donata is a strong young woman who wants to step out of the bonds of her mother and father to find adventure for herself. To see her city Venice for what it's worth. Disguised as a boy she ends up meeting Neo a Jewish man and their friendship has grown strong but what will happen to them, can they be together or not? you have to find out when you read it. It was a very good book that informs us about Venice and it's people.
A wonderful well researched book about girls in Rennaisance Venice. Donata from a wealthy family escapes her fate for a while by escaping from the house. Yes, girls were not allowed out, let alone be educated and it was off to the convent unless you were the one to be married. She enters the Jewish quarter where she learns to read and write. She's a great spirit and Napoli describes Venetian life very well.
Feb 29, 2012
Mandi Ellsworth
added it
This turned out differently than I thought it would, but it stayed true to the characters and ended the best way it could for the story. I enjoyed learning a little more about Venice and its proud history. There were things that I had never heard about, even though Venice is such a popular place. Even though it wasn't a traditionally happy ending, it was what needed to happen. (I just repeated myself. Typical.)
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From her website:
Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction.
Donna Jo has five children. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden and bake bread.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to...more
More about Donna Jo Napoli...
Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction.
Donna Jo has five children. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden and bake bread.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to...more
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