The Marriage of the Sea: A Novel

by Jane Alison

In a damp Venetian palace, Oswaldo contemplates the ravages of time to his body and his beloved city. In New York, Lach savors his freedom, having just dropped Vera to join his new love, Francesca, in Venice. In rainy London, Max packs for New Orleans, in pursuit of Lucinde, a woman he barely knows. From New Orleans, Lucinde flies to the aid and comfort of Vera, who has accepted a grant to paint in Venice. While elsewhere in the Crescent City, Anton, leaving for Venice, sketches a good-bye upon the slumbering body of his wife, Josephine. With wit, sympathy, and surpassing deftness, Jane Alison choreographs an intricate dance among these characters, whom love and loneliness, aspiration and desperation, have drawn to two famously romantic, venal, and elusive cities of water.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jane Alison (born 1961) is an Australian author.

Reviews

[Elise Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I accidentally read the wrong book for a book club lol. But not mad about it

[Marian Deegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This liquid banquet of a novel was recommended to me by my friend Mary, who knows me well enough to know that a novel which unfolds between the twin mystical cities of Venice and New Orleans would charm and entice me via its settings alone.

This is a tale of evocative atmospheres, artistic yearnings and insecurities, and the complex interplay of love and betrayal. Alison writes sumptuously of mozzarella stuffed with coffee beans and pistachios, unforgettable green hats, the fragility of creative egos, and the perfect dark blue hue: Pavonazzo.

It is a delicious, sometimes luminous, often thoughtful, and transporting read. Scenes from this book resurfaced to haunt me long after I’d finished the final chapter; this is a sure sign of “Best of Books” for me.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

A solid 2.5.
I started this book, got about halfway through and put it down for months and months, only to have it mocking me every time I passed my bookshelves. So, I picked it back up and started reading it again. For some reason the second time around was somewhat more fluid; this may be due to the fact the the characters swam about, never really leaving me alone until I properly finished their story...OR...It could of been that this book is so murky that I had to make a character chart just to figure out who was who and from which chapter they were last and which place we may be at!
From New York to Venice to New Orleans and back again, these characters roam about in their thoughts and confusion but not enough expression or confrontation. They all seemed shallow in what they let wash by rather then what holds such lasting undercurrents. The amount of miscommunication, over analysis and over thinking with such vague conversations and too little articulation of feeling between all these sad, sad intermingling and unraveling of characters is almost too much. And everything, even the chapters seem to ebb and flow with the water that joins them all together.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree that the book is confusing, but i think the book is truly a representation of the sea itself, at times murky, always beautiful. The characters are always within a kind of watery dance with each other, and the cities of Venice and New Orleans are beautifullydescribed and embodied within the languasge.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully confusing. Story of several people searching for something but not finding it. About wanting and struggling....strange...could be frustrating if you're looking for a clean ending.

[EK · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been criticized for it's sketchiness, but that's exactly what I loved about it.

[Lesley Potts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited New Orleans one December in the early 1990s ( was it really that long ago?). I fell in love with the city, found everything I never knew I needed, but never had the chance to return. Venice has been on my places to visit list for even longer, over thirty years. I never stopped to think about the ways in which these two watery cities are similar. This book ties the two cities together with a cast of interesting characters who haven't met yet know of each other on the periphery of their lives.

I don't remember where, or when, I picked up a copy of this book but it was perfect reading for late December, over indulged hibernating.

[Tycelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy the writing, delicious prose. I wanted a deeper story between fewer characters. Venice & New Orleans, both beautifully portrayed.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

Alison's debut book, The Love Artist, was an interpretation of the demise of Ovid that was lauded for its fine detail and grace. Here, Alison applies her interests in history and excavation in a different manner, using the metaphor of "the sea" to uncover truths about her characters. Reviewers complained that Alison's gorgeous flair (and attentiveness) for the small details sometimes left the reader with too little information about the characters' motivations. Critics praised her talents with form, metaphor, and poetic language.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not a very good book; I know this. Yet I inexplicable love this story. It is stories of various people tied together by their cities on the water: Venice and New Orleans. It is a beautifully written book with vivid imagery and well thought out characters that are just on the precipice of reality.

[Nicole Ambarchian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dialogue was confusing and vague. The book has a spooky desolate quality to it. The only reason I finished it was hoping for something positive in the end. The descriptions of Venice were evocative. The characters were only loosely connected. I still don't know who Therese was to Max. There are many other books with more engaging plots to be read. I do not recommend this book.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a weird book. Six characters seemingly unrelated and the intersections of their lives quite honestly mysterious. The one uniting theme, water, or more specifically the sea, I got, the rest of it, clueless.

[victoria.p]

The prose is lyrical and lovely, but fifty pages in, I was having a hard time caring about the characters, or even telling them apart.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Jane (Shumate) Alison (Wilson '79), it is a beautifully written love story. Her prose and descriptions are lyrical.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 1 out of 5]

So far I am juggling books here, I do that when my mind is restless but this one I am reading at night and it's lovely and very human.

[Margot Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was strange and meandering. No plot, just pieces from several different sad peoples' lives.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it was set in Venice (which I love) and New Orleans, where I was traveling to! Interesting story and characters, and it was fun to be "in" two cool cities.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find myself out of sync with a lot of contemporary fiction lately.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the setting but character development was a little weak.

[Melody Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, disapointing ending.

[Rachel Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, but the constant change in POV made it a bit confusing to follow.