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Splendid Torment
Venice. A city of intrigue, a city of beauty, a city of exquisite sensuality....In the late 18th century, during the days of a dying aristocracy, of never-ending Carnival and unbridled licentiousness, Venice teems with mystery and immorality. Gondolas glide soundlessly through narrow canals, carrying masked lovers to secret trysts, while cicisbei play court to bored noblewomen.Such a woman is the magnificently beautiful Fosca Loredan. Her husband, Alessandro, is the ambitious leader of the aristocracy. Her lover is the bold revolutionary, Rafaello Leopardi - Alessandro's deadliest enemy.The flaunting of their passion before her husband's eyes leads to imprisonment, exile, and treason.Raf, Alessandro, Fosca - a triangle that sizzles with the heat of passion, that fire of hate; a triangle of emotional torture and delight that could happen only in the treacherous, the beautiful, the sensual city of Venice.
475 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Natasha Peters
16 books40 followersNatasha Peters is a pesudonym for Elizabeth Jordan, who also wrote as Anastasia Cleaver.
Her ideas for her books have taken her to many foreign lands in the East and West, and through the volumes of history and biography. She was also an actress, an artist, a singer, and loved to grow roses.
Her ideas for her books have taken her to many foreign lands in the East and West, and through the volumes of history and biography. She was also an actress, an artist, a singer, and loved to grow roses.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 23, 2021
In The Masquers, also republished under the title Splendid Torment, Natasha Peters captured the cultural spirit of 18th century Venice. What better setting is there for a bodice ripper? At first I thought this may be more historical fiction/historical romance than Natasha's other two BRs: Savage Surrender & Dangerous Obsession, but don't let the more elegant style of writing fool you. This book contains its own fair share of bodice shredding, forced seduction, wtfuckery moments, & Natasha's style of cruel heros. The level of melodrama contained in this book reminded at times of This Other Eden by Marilyn Harris, except much more comedic and in the style of a Shakespearean tragicomedy. What makes this book stand out to me is the amount of history, economics, and politics Natasha infused with the melodrama. Events and people in this book were not only inspired by the culture of 18th century Venice, but also the French Revolution that later resulted in the French Revolutionary Army bringing emancipation to the Jews in 1797 Venice. The height of Venetian culture, its traditions, and its fall to the winds of revolution are all interwoven with the lives of 4 people in this book.
*This review has mild spoilers.
✤ Alessandro Loredan:
Alessandro was ruthlessly ambitious, mired in tradition, blinded by pride, as well as anti-Semitic. He, like all the characters in this book, had a significant character arc. While I'm not sure I bought into his change in sympathy towards the Jews, I wonder if Natasha Peters was inspired by the House of Loredan. I readily admit I'm by no means well-read on this area of history. After briefly browsing wikipedia (I know, I know) it seems Alessandro was not inspired by one specific member of the House of Loredan, but that Natasha gave him traits that represented several aspects of the House over the centuries. I consider Alessandro's character arc regarding the Jews to possibly represent the shift in the certain members of the House of Loredan's position on the Jews over the years. From what I've read the Loredan family were responsible for creating the first Jewish Ghetto in 15th century Venice, but later in the 17th century they were known for supporting the Jews. I'd be interested in reading more about this. With all this said, Natasha certainly took liberties with history for her book. I don't mind the liberties taken because they were taken in the spirit of the culture. For historical fiction sticklers, this may not be satisfactory. But moving on from politics, what captured my romantic heart was Allesandro Loredan's relentless control, obsession, and possessiveness of his wife, Fosca. He certainly self-sabotaged himself, in the fashion of Thomas Eden from This Other Eden. Unlike Thomas Eden his character was more dynamic, fully-fleshed out, with an incredible character arc.
✤ Fosca:
Fosca married Alessandro as a young girl and was not in any way, shape, or form prepared for what marriage to Alessandro meant. Early in the story she was forced to go through a character arc. When her naive & romantic notions of marriage were cruelly crushed by Alessandro, she turned to what she had left to her - life of a Venetian noblewoman with plenty of money at her disposal and her cicisbei at her side. Parties, the opera, gambling, shopping, celebrating Carnival, etc etc, she grew to find enjoyment in life where she could. On the surface she may seem shallow at first glance, but beneath is a woman who craves romantic love more than anything else. While certainly flawed, I admired Fosca because out of all the characters she was the most honest. She made mistakes, but became self-aware, recognized her mistakes, and was resigned that she must live with the consequences. She accepted the consequences, realized her past mistakes, even if she didn't always learn from them. Above all, she stood up for herself when faced with humiliation and betrayal. Natasha Peters writes the strongest heroines and her bodice rippers are more feminist than many of the contemporary romances being published today (I'm thinking of Savage Surrender right now in particular).
✤ Rafaello:
Raf is a perfectly flawed character and excellent foil to Alessandro. Their character arcs are almost inverted in this novel. What makes this an excellent love triangle is that I wanted Fosca to be with both men at different times. I truly wondered when I reached 50% which man would end up with Fosca.
✤ Lia:
Lia, the beautiful little liar. These quotes don't do her justice. I went back and forth so much about her character! At first loving her, than hating her, than having sympathy and understanding her actions...phew than back to distaste for her, to admiration once again.
✤ Rosalba:
The true hero of this novel, and that's all I can say.
What a matriarch! Wielding her power to the end, in the way only women can. I felt some major girl power at the end. Rosalba reminded me of my grandmother, who unbeknownst to some family members was incredibly astute to old age & knew how to save the day to preserve her own interests in times of trial. I think Natasha Peters must have had a similar type of grandmother.
There was twist, upon twist, upon twist. Even little details relatively minor to the plots had twists that made you believe the twist until there was another twist that made you doubt. It takes talent to pull that off. I'm awed by the amount of nuance and intricacy contained in this novel. After finishing, I'm still not sure what the truth is. I have a feeling it's somewhere in the middle of what was revealed. Another title for this book could be: Beautiful Lies.
Notes from when I first started reading this:
*This review has mild spoilers.
✤ Alessandro Loredan:
Alessandro walked to the open windows and looked out over the rooftops. He lifted his face to the sky. His eyes were bright. “She’s like the wind, like the air I breathe. Elusive. Essential. Impossible to define, or capture. I’d be lost without her. I have been abominably cruel to her, and all for love. It’s absurd. She loathes me, more than ever. I don’t stand a chance of winning her, but I’ll never let her go.”
“Honor is just another mask they wear, love is just a word. Marriage is a game."
Theirs was a typical Venetian marriage. Fosca and Alessandro Loredan revolved around the planet Venice, two moons whose orbits crossed only on rare occasions, and then with unpleasant results...Her taunts, her jabs ignited the sparks of a rage that only manifested itself when he left her. He avoided her, because when he was with her he lost his composure, yet he frequently found himself wondering what she was doing and who she was with.
But it never occurred to him, until he stood pinned by the master’s sword to the wall of the fencing academy, that he was in love with her. The gleaming shaft of the rapier was like Jove’s thunderbolt, a brilliant flash that illuminated everything that he had been feeling. He knew that the man’s words were true.
This was Cupid’s revenge on Alessandro Loredan. He had committed the unspeakable folly of falling in love with his own wife.
Alessandro watched her, his lean face creased with sorrow. He knew he had beaten her, but there was no trace of victory in his attitude. The contest had been uneven, and unfair. She had no weapons; he had them all."
“Oh, my God, Fosca,” he said hoarsely, “what a mess we’ve made of our lives.”
Alessandro was ruthlessly ambitious, mired in tradition, blinded by pride, as well as anti-Semitic. He, like all the characters in this book, had a significant character arc. While I'm not sure I bought into his change in sympathy towards the Jews, I wonder if Natasha Peters was inspired by the House of Loredan. I readily admit I'm by no means well-read on this area of history. After briefly browsing wikipedia (I know, I know) it seems Alessandro was not inspired by one specific member of the House of Loredan, but that Natasha gave him traits that represented several aspects of the House over the centuries. I consider Alessandro's character arc regarding the Jews to possibly represent the shift in the certain members of the House of Loredan's position on the Jews over the years. From what I've read the Loredan family were responsible for creating the first Jewish Ghetto in 15th century Venice, but later in the 17th century they were known for supporting the Jews. I'd be interested in reading more about this. With all this said, Natasha certainly took liberties with history for her book. I don't mind the liberties taken because they were taken in the spirit of the culture. For historical fiction sticklers, this may not be satisfactory. But moving on from politics, what captured my romantic heart was Allesandro Loredan's relentless control, obsession, and possessiveness of his wife, Fosca. He certainly self-sabotaged himself, in the fashion of Thomas Eden from This Other Eden. Unlike Thomas Eden his character was more dynamic, fully-fleshed out, with an incredible character arc.
✤ Fosca:
She loved the Alessandro she knew, the handsome gallant, the courtly and urbane lover. He was every schoolgirl’s dream: a rich and worthy prince who came out of nowhere, saw, and loved. He won her heart easily. He knew all the tricks, she knew none. He knew how to create magic with a word, a glance, or a quiet moment. A sophisticated woman would have recognized his passionate avowals for what they were: beautiful lies. But Fosca believed them.
She challenged him with what she had overheard. Was it true?
“True?” He raised his brows. “Of course it’s true. I won’t bother to deny it. I suppose it’s time you were learning about such things, Fosca. You’re not a child anymore. Throw out all that romantic stuff you’ve been filling your head with. Marriage is business, Fosca. You mustn’t be selfish and make unreasonable demands of me. I have my own life to live. I won’t dance attendance on you.”
She extended her circle of friends. She began to live her own life.
As a study of human nature and a reading of Aesop will attest, the moment an object is removed from reach, it attains a desirability that it previously lacked.
Alessandro Loredan began to notice, when he was able to observe his wife in the company of others, how attentive men were to her—and not only her cicisbei. She received fervent professions of adoration and praise, and turned them aside with a laugh. With the help of her two well-informed friends, her beauty blossomed and she recovered from her sadness and disillusionment.
"That is what Venetian ladies of rank do. They promise everything and give nothing. I have learned how to give my heart to everyone—and no one.”
“You have grown cynical, Madame,” Alessandro said grimly. “It does not become you.”
“You think not? Then it does not become anyone in Venice, and yet everyone behaves this way. I think it is not cynicism at all, but realism. We have no more illusions, therefore no more disillusionment. No more trust, therefore no more betrayals. People of fashion, I have observed, pretend that nothing is so important as to cause unhappiness. For them—and for me— unhappiness does not exist.”
He retreated. She had bested him at every turn with the wit and wiles of a practiced charmer. She had indeed learned quickly, and well. He hadn’t been able to penetrate her hard veneer of sophistication at all. She was brittle, gay, impervious to insult. There wasn’t a sign of the trembling child he had married. She was all woman. She had discovered that she was beautiful, and she knew how to use her powers.
"Who was the man in the myth, Tomasso?” she asked. “The one who was condemned by the gods to lie chained to a mountainside while an eagle devoured his entrails, into eternity?”
Tomasso frowned. “You mean Prometheus?”
“Yes. That’s me, Tomasso. I’m chained to a mountainside and an eagle is eating away at my heart. The wound will never heal, because the wounding never stops.”
Fosca married Alessandro as a young girl and was not in any way, shape, or form prepared for what marriage to Alessandro meant. Early in the story she was forced to go through a character arc. When her naive & romantic notions of marriage were cruelly crushed by Alessandro, she turned to what she had left to her - life of a Venetian noblewoman with plenty of money at her disposal and her cicisbei at her side. Parties, the opera, gambling, shopping, celebrating Carnival, etc etc, she grew to find enjoyment in life where she could. On the surface she may seem shallow at first glance, but beneath is a woman who craves romantic love more than anything else. While certainly flawed, I admired Fosca because out of all the characters she was the most honest. She made mistakes, but became self-aware, recognized her mistakes, and was resigned that she must live with the consequences. She accepted the consequences, realized her past mistakes, even if she didn't always learn from them. Above all, she stood up for herself when faced with humiliation and betrayal. Natasha Peters writes the strongest heroines and her bodice rippers are more feminist than many of the contemporary romances being published today (I'm thinking of Savage Surrender right now in particular).
✤ Rafaello:
Now Loredan the Jew-hater had become Loredan, Commissioner of the Seas. In Raf’s mind, he epitomized the true shame of Venice: greatness fallen to weakness and impotence. The entire noble class was corrupt. The stink of their decay hung around them like a plague-sickness, infecting every place they frequented, everything they touched. They were a dying race & hadn’t sense enough to know it. But a new day was coming.
"This Leopardi is illegitimate, Excellency. Rather unusual for Jews, I understand. They are careful of their daughters. His father is unknown. His mother died after he was born and he was raised by his grandfather, a merchant in the ghetto."
"You offer me a commission in your navy. I decline. I am a Jew, but even a Jew has pride. I will not serve the grotesque whore Venice has become, because I loved too well the beauty she was long ago.”
.She stood poised for flight and looked down at him, lying on the grass, dark and mysterious like a messenger from Satan himself.
“Will you come, Fosca" he urged her.
"-Fosca. It’s wrong for you. It means shadow, dusk. But you are light. Well, Fosca, will you let me bask again in your light? Will you meet me tomorrow night, in the Ridotto?”
Fosca - He remembered her eyes, her lips, her lovely breasts, her welcoming smile. The moment when her fear turned to trust, when she bared her soul to him and all pretenses and play-acting were thrown aside. She had shown herself to him then, beautiful and lonely and starved for love. Real love, not the love of poetry and gossip. No, it was impossible. It was dangerous, for both of them. He would leave her alone.
Later she stroked his dark head and said,“We’ll never be as happy as we are right now.”
“You’re a coward, Fosca,” he muttered sleepily. “Don’t set limits on your happiness. There are no limits.”
Raf is a perfectly flawed character and excellent foil to Alessandro. Their character arcs are almost inverted in this novel. What makes this an excellent love triangle is that I wanted Fosca to be with both men at different times. I truly wondered when I reached 50% which man would end up with Fosca.
✤ Lia:
That night she dreamed about Raf and Alessandro and her father, all circling like doomed moths around an incandescent Lia, who smiled triumphantly and smugly.
Yes. I know very well that they don’t love me for myself, but because I amuse them. When I am too old to dance, they will forget me. But right now, while they adore me, I will take their money and their gifts and smile at their praises. I’ll have rich men for lovers, men who would never have looked at me before I became famous. I’ll use them as they use me. And when we’re tired of each other. I’ll turn my back on them, go to my little house, and tell them all to go to the devil.
Lia, the beautiful little liar. These quotes don't do her justice. I went back and forth so much about her character! At first loving her, than hating her, than having sympathy and understanding her actions...phew than back to distaste for her, to admiration once again.
✤ Rosalba:
The true hero of this novel, and that's all I can say.
"You still know how to tell a charming lie, I trust?” she asked Fosca.
“I’m not sorry to be staying! I am rather interested in this new era we seem to be entering. As you know I am not opposed to new ideas. I can’t think how you came to be such a prig, dear. Your father’s legacy, I suppose. The Loredans always were rather stuffy."
“Don’t be a fool, boy! Fosca is a good girl. She was as faithful to you as you deserved. But the heart has a long memory, as you will learn. Don’t be an idiot. Forget your pride. Don’t let happiness slip away from you again. Forgive, and live.”
“You mean—your mother—?”
“Concocted the whole fairy tale,” he nodded. “She was brilliant, wasn’t she? By God, she should have been a lawyer herself: ‘You heard my son admit—!’ Oh, she was splendid. A true Venetian noblewoman to the very end, spinning her fantastic lies so charmingly that everyone believed them. I nearly believed her myself!”
What a matriarch! Wielding her power to the end, in the way only women can. I felt some major girl power at the end. Rosalba reminded me of my grandmother, who unbeknownst to some family members was incredibly astute to old age & knew how to save the day to preserve her own interests in times of trial. I think Natasha Peters must have had a similar type of grandmother.
There was twist, upon twist, upon twist. Even little details relatively minor to the plots had twists that made you believe the twist until there was another twist that made you doubt. It takes talent to pull that off. I'm awed by the amount of nuance and intricacy contained in this novel. After finishing, I'm still not sure what the truth is. I have a feeling it's somewhere in the middle of what was revealed. Another title for this book could be: Beautiful Lies.
Notes from when I first started reading this:
June 24, 2017
Natasha Peter’s “Splendid Torment”--originally published as “The Masquers”-- takes us to late 18th century Venice, to the world of Fosca Loredan, a Titian-haired young noblewoman trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older nobleman. It’s an unusual romance, in the style of Bertrice Small sans purple-prose: part bodice ripper-part historical fiction, replete with swashbuckling and political intrigue.
There are two heroes vying for Fosca's attention: Raffaelo, an atheist, revolutionary, bastard Jew and Alessandro, a middle-aged, philandering, anti-Semite politician. But this love triangle is actually a quadrangle with a fourth player: Lia, a woman who will do anything with anyone to save her true love. Besides this adulterous entanglement some of the book's highlights include: a Dynasty-style catfight; a Sapphic May-December love affair; an omniscient dowager who hasn't left her bed in 20 years; a singing eunuch and a cross-dressing, dancing dwarf.
This is the third Natasha Peters romance I've read, and I've enjoyed them all. She skillfully wove history with melodrama and created flawed yet all-too-real characters in over-the-top scenarios. Despite being morally repugnant, all the players in this game captured my sympathy. As such, I was both saddened and pleasantly surprised at the result of the love triangle, because one hero I cared for was left behind, while the other hero got his unexpected happy ending.
One gripe: Fosca's inability to think with anything other than her hoo-hoo is frustrating. The girl is recklessly horny and could well have benefited from a chastity belt. In fact, they all could have used one, these guys got around!
This is an epic drama that spans decades as characters are too proud and stubborn to communicate thus leading to their own downfalls. Characters rarely tell the truth, to themselves or to others, hiding behind their Carnival masks. But what a dazzling Carnival it is. 4.5 stars/B+
There are two heroes vying for Fosca's attention: Raffaelo, an atheist, revolutionary, bastard Jew and Alessandro, a middle-aged, philandering, anti-Semite politician. But this love triangle is actually a quadrangle with a fourth player: Lia, a woman who will do anything with anyone to save her true love. Besides this adulterous entanglement some of the book's highlights include: a Dynasty-style catfight; a Sapphic May-December love affair; an omniscient dowager who hasn't left her bed in 20 years; a singing eunuch and a cross-dressing, dancing dwarf.
This is the third Natasha Peters romance I've read, and I've enjoyed them all. She skillfully wove history with melodrama and created flawed yet all-too-real characters in over-the-top scenarios. Despite being morally repugnant, all the players in this game captured my sympathy. As such, I was both saddened and pleasantly surprised at the result of the love triangle, because one hero I cared for was left behind, while the other hero got his unexpected happy ending.
One gripe: Fosca's inability to think with anything other than her hoo-hoo is frustrating. The girl is recklessly horny and could well have benefited from a chastity belt. In fact, they all could have used one, these guys got around!
This is an epic drama that spans decades as characters are too proud and stubborn to communicate thus leading to their own downfalls. Characters rarely tell the truth, to themselves or to others, hiding behind their Carnival masks. But what a dazzling Carnival it is. 4.5 stars/B+
July 29, 2020
We get introduced to the glamour,sparkling líghts and laughter of Venice where everything is possible.Natasha Peters writes with a beautiful language that delivers a epic saga of a angsty love-triangle.There are lots of betrayals and infidility going on here,but every character also had their uniqe personalities,and i just enjoyed every parts in this book.Fosca Loredan made me laugh with her carelessness and humor,her strive for excitement and passion.Once a very innocent child became broken after her cold-hearted and ruthless husband Alessandro Loredan breaks her heart-so she now hides her dead heart by going on adventures with her cicisbei (male-friends who have the job to entertain noble woman).A very entertaining tale that made me feel a whole lot of different emotions-and not always good ones.The ending was perfect for me in a way,and to the story.As i first cheered for Fosca for her HEA,i later on also cheered for Alessandro,they both grew up in their own ways over all these years through their torment,jealousy,bitterness and hate...the ending made me complete and i know they too feel that way.Huh..what a splendid journey "The Masquers" took me into.
July 6, 2015
The most important thing I have learned from this novel (the first time I read it and this last time) is that every woman should have
cicisbei.
Cicisbei
are men who spend all their time escorting women, entertaining women, flattering them excessively and otherwise disrupting the monotony of the mundane. That is their only true occupation. Every woman needs a team of
cicisbei
!
As for the rest of this novel, once again I find myself in Revolutionary Europe. The haves vs. the have nots. The jaded, corrupted, whore Venice is filled with idle nobility, antiquated social castes, political spies, vicious gossip, and the never ending displays of wealth. Revolutionaries, inspired by France and the promise of equality, fight to destroy nobility and all it represents. Enter the smutty love quadrangle between the have-nots: Raf and Lia and the Haves: Alessandro and Fosca. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can trump Revolutionary ideals like lots of sex. Throw in some Anti-Semitism and stir.
Most of this book was pretty boring--except for the cicisbei! Long live the cicisbei
As for the rest of this novel, once again I find myself in Revolutionary Europe. The haves vs. the have nots. The jaded, corrupted, whore Venice is filled with idle nobility, antiquated social castes, political spies, vicious gossip, and the never ending displays of wealth. Revolutionaries, inspired by France and the promise of equality, fight to destroy nobility and all it represents. Enter the smutty love quadrangle between the have-nots: Raf and Lia and the Haves: Alessandro and Fosca. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can trump Revolutionary ideals like lots of sex. Throw in some Anti-Semitism and stir.
Most of this book was pretty boring--except for the cicisbei! Long live the cicisbei
October 13, 2017
This book was OLD SCHOOL AF and I could not stop reading!
Things that felt especially refreshing to 2017 reader:
- All of the characters are unapologeticly spoiled, arrogant, depraved people.
-I legit was not sure who the "heroine" was going to end up with through 85% of the book.
-There are actual consequences to romantic relationships when the people in that relationship are horrible to each other.
-Despite the fact that they're all terrible people, their development and endings feel earned.
-"villainous" characters with complex motivations and believable transformations
-Issues of class divisions and antisemitism with actual relevance to the plot and to the characters.
-Adultery with no fucks given and no apologies.
-Actual possibilty of unhappy endings
-The actual, hopeful ending.
and finally, a romance novel that assumes the reader is a mature adult who can handle ambiguity, character growth, and lots of historical and political flavor. Subtracting one star for a hasty, slightly deux ex machina ending that I enjoyed nonetheless.
Things that felt especially refreshing to 2017 reader:
- All of the characters are unapologeticly spoiled, arrogant, depraved people.
-I legit was not sure who the "heroine" was going to end up with through 85% of the book.
-There are actual consequences to romantic relationships when the people in that relationship are horrible to each other.
-Despite the fact that they're all terrible people, their development and endings feel earned.
-"villainous" characters with complex motivations and believable transformations
-Issues of class divisions and antisemitism with actual relevance to the plot and to the characters.
-Adultery with no fucks given and no apologies.
-Actual possibilty of unhappy endings
-The actual, hopeful ending.
and finally, a romance novel that assumes the reader is a mature adult who can handle ambiguity, character growth, and lots of historical and political flavor. Subtracting one star for a hasty, slightly deux ex machina ending that I enjoyed nonetheless.
October 29, 2020
4.5 stars.
This novel was amazing, just not as amazing as some of the other works I've read by this author. It's also probably one of the best, most complicated love triangles I've ever read. Fosca and Alessandro's character arcs were so fascinating to watch unfold.
I truly hated every single character at some point in this novel, except for maybe Fosca, but Natasha Peters is such a fantastic writer that she made me feel sympathy for all these really despicable people. I actually had tears in my eyes near the end of the novel. I knew it had to end the way it did, but it kind of broke my heart a little bit.
TW: non-con, physical violence, and anti-semitism
This novel was amazing, just not as amazing as some of the other works I've read by this author. It's also probably one of the best, most complicated love triangles I've ever read. Fosca and Alessandro's character arcs were so fascinating to watch unfold.
I truly hated every single character at some point in this novel, except for maybe Fosca, but Natasha Peters is such a fantastic writer that she made me feel sympathy for all these really despicable people. I actually had tears in my eyes near the end of the novel. I knew it had to end the way it did, but it kind of broke my heart a little bit.
TW: non-con, physical violence, and anti-semitism
July 19, 2011
The setting is Venice in the 12 years before Napoleon's army seized the city. This is the story of 12 years of a marriage, 2 years together, 4 years estranged and 6 sharing the same household but never speaking. Young Fosca married for love, but for her father and lover it was about politics. After 2 years of marriage, the death of a new-born and a miscarriage, she declares her independence and during Carnival she takes a lover. A revolutionary who takes her to Paris and gets her pregnant. Her husband claims her child as his own, takes her back but never speaks to her.
A change begins when, shortly after her 30th birthday, she exchanges places with her husband's mistress for her own reasons. The mistress, Lia, was also the lover of Rafaello Leopardi who impregnated Fosca Loredan and this the husband, Alessandro Loredan, knows. Amorality seems the order of the day.
Peters brings in all the elements at play in Venice at that time; impoverished nobility getting deeper into debt for display, life in the Ghetto, the dieing glory of Venice. The solution of the conflict between Fosca's husband and former lover is not very believable.
It is not an uplifting novel and a bit sordid, like Venice at the time, but I find it vastly re-readable and have done so in the many years I have owned it. Maybe it is the feeling a got at the end that at least these two people and their child have a future.
A change begins when, shortly after her 30th birthday, she exchanges places with her husband's mistress for her own reasons. The mistress, Lia, was also the lover of Rafaello Leopardi who impregnated Fosca Loredan and this the husband, Alessandro Loredan, knows. Amorality seems the order of the day.
Peters brings in all the elements at play in Venice at that time; impoverished nobility getting deeper into debt for display, life in the Ghetto, the dieing glory of Venice. The solution of the conflict between Fosca's husband and former lover is not very believable.
It is not an uplifting novel and a bit sordid, like Venice at the time, but I find it vastly re-readable and have done so in the many years I have owned it. Maybe it is the feeling a got at the end that at least these two people and their child have a future.
May 19, 2025
“It's like a dream, or like a story you see on the stage —hectic and noisy and so real that you forget it's just illusion. And all of a sudden— it's over.”
This quote summarize my feelings towards the end of this beautiful, absurd, convoluted journey. Sometimes it was so ridiculous, it did ended up being quite realistic. Ik it seems like it doesn't make sense, but it truly does; Idk what to tell ya, that's my 💫 OPINION 💫.
I loved each and everyone of these character's by the end — and yes, that includes Venice. They were flawed, imperfect and perfectly fleshed out. Their motives were clear and you couldn't actually fault them for being a cunt most of the time (the men most especially, and Rafaello... girl).
I'll think about this one for a while. New shelf alert?
This quote summarize my feelings towards the end of this beautiful, absurd, convoluted journey. Sometimes it was so ridiculous, it did ended up being quite realistic. Ik it seems like it doesn't make sense, but it truly does; Idk what to tell ya, that's my 💫 OPINION 💫.
I loved each and everyone of these character's by the end — and yes, that includes Venice. They were flawed, imperfect and perfectly fleshed out. Their motives were clear and you couldn't actually fault them for being a cunt most of the time (the men most especially, and Rafaello... girl).
I'll think about this one for a while. New shelf alert?
May 2, 2021
I loved it.
Set in Venice ✨
May December (18 years age gap)
Loved Fosca she the prime exemple of shallow noblewoman she would have definitely been a villain in a standard book.
Set in Venice ✨
May December (18 years age gap)
Loved Fosca she the prime exemple of shallow noblewoman she would have definitely been a villain in a standard book.
December 30, 2023
Головне під час читання цієї книжки - влягтися зручніше, а там вже куди занесе. Бо це класичнєйший історичний bodice ripper з тих часів, коли ще, мабуть, мафіозних романів не було, а щось такого без кордонів хотілося. Ні, це зовсім не темний романс і голови під час сексу нікому не відкушують, але деяке від��уття, що навпростець, через болота, а там хто перший добіжить, присутнє.
Власне, про що: Венеція ще животіє, але на горизонті десь починає бовваніти французька революція. Тим часом політичні інтриги нікуди не діваються, і майбутня зірка Сенату Алессандро Лоредан одружується на юній Фосці, у якої приданого катма, але впливовий татко. Всі почуття після цього зникають на благо батьківщини, а крім того, власну дружину кохати якось некуртуазно. Помучившись кілька років, Фоска вже ладна на розлучення чи в монастир, але тут з'являється дуже кучерявий Рафаель, який не тільки нешлюбний авантюрист, так ще і син єврейки, а Алессандро в нас головною лінією партії вибрав утискати єврейську громаду. Рафаель вирішує спокусити Фоску, далі в нас виринають відчуття, а там прибуває остання героїня цього чотирикутника - акробатка Лія, яку найняли слідкувати за Рафаелем, але вона теж перед його харизмою не встояла. А революція все ближче, ганьбити сенатора не можна, тож карколомні пригоди починаються.
Далі буде весь шляхетний набір з дуелей, тюрми, театральних вистав, нешлюбних дітей і романів по колу (ну дядьки просто побились, щоб сублімувати, а дами повидирали одна одній волосся), втеч світ за очі, божевільних тітоньок і премудрих матусь. І написано це все страшенно захопливо! Навіть не очікувала. Так, там часом сильний мрачняк і рейтинг не просто так стоїть (warning for non-con), але все одно класно. Ну й додає твіст з героями, коли один з полум'яного захисника потихеньку перетворюється на досить кровожерливого революціонера, а інший розуміє, що не треба бути таким пихатим ідіотом і ображати людей, хоча обидва янголами від того не стають. Коротше, якщо ви прихильні до жанру і вас не лякають корсети з підв'язками, що розлітаються в різні боки, то рекомендую.
Власне, про що: Венеція ще животіє, але на горизонті десь починає бовваніти французька революція. Тим часом політичні інтриги нікуди не діваються, і майбутня зірка Сенату Алессандро Лоредан одружується на юній Фосці, у якої приданого катма, але впливовий татко. Всі почуття після цього зникають на благо батьківщини, а крім того, власну дружину кохати якось некуртуазно. Помучившись кілька років, Фоска вже ладна на розлучення чи в монастир, але тут з'являється дуже кучерявий Рафаель, який не тільки нешлюбний авантюрист, так ще і син єврейки, а Алессандро в нас головною лінією партії вибрав утискати єврейську громаду. Рафаель вирішує спокусити Фоску, далі в нас виринають відчуття, а там прибуває остання героїня цього чотирикутника - акробатка Лія, яку найняли слідкувати за Рафаелем, але вона теж перед його харизмою не встояла. А революція все ближче, ганьбити сенатора не можна, тож карколомні пригоди починаються.
Далі буде весь шляхетний набір з дуелей, тюрми, театральних вистав, нешлюбних дітей і романів по колу (ну дядьки просто побились, щоб сублімувати, а дами повидирали одна одній волосся), втеч світ за очі, божевільних тітоньок і премудрих матусь. І написано це все страшенно захопливо! Навіть не очікувала. Так, там часом сильний мрачняк і рейтинг не просто так стоїть (warning for non-con), але все одно класно. Ну й додає твіст з героями, коли один з полум'яного захисника потихеньку перетворюється на досить кровожерливого революціонера, а інший розуміє, що не треба бути таким пихатим ідіотом і ображати людей, хоча обидва янголами від того не стають. Коротше, якщо ви прихильні до жанру і вас не лякають корсети з підв'язками, що розлітаються в різні боки, то рекомендую.
February 13, 2024
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really liked this book! I didn't think I'd be reading another Natasha Peters novel after those other two, but I was curious to see if it could be any worse, and instead it turned out to be a lot better! I liked all the history, the Venice background, and the time period (Napoleonic Wars), and while the characters didn't always act their best - and didn't know the meaning of the word fidelity - I couldn't help liking them either.
There was quite a twist at the end, I never expected that, and it does give the story a bit of a YUCK!! factor, but not enough to ruin it. (Though I do wonder if the old lady should have kept that secret to herself and let the dual continue.)
It did drag on it spots and could have been several chapters less, but still worth reading.
There was quite a twist at the end, I never expected that, and it does give the story a bit of a YUCK!! factor, but not enough to ruin it. (Though I do wonder if the old lady should have kept that secret to herself and let the dual continue.)
It did drag on it spots and could have been several chapters less, but still worth reading.
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