Domino

by Ross King

Ross King’s delightful, Rabelaisian novel recounts the adventures of young George Cautley, an aspiring artist who, as he makes his way through London’s high society, finds that nothing is as it seems and everyone wears a disguise. Moving from masquerade balls in London to the magnificent and mysterious opera houses of Venice, Cautley is drawn into a web of intrigue and murder spun by the seductive and tempestuous Lady Beauclair. Suspenseful, menacing, and laced with black humor, King’s picaresque tale is full of surprises and suspense, told at the pace of a thriller and with the richness of a restored painting.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, 18th Century, Historical, Mystery, Canada, British Literature

439 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Ross King (born July 16, 1962) is a Canadian novelist and non-fiction writer. He began his career by writing two works of historical fiction in the 1990s, later turning to non-fiction, and has since written several critically acclaimed and best-selling historical works.

King was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada and was raised in the nearby village of North Portal. He received his undergraduate university education at the University of Regina, where in 1984 he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English Literature. Continuing his studies at the University of Regina, he received a Master of Arts degree in 1986 upon completing a thesis on the poet T.S. Eliot. Later he achieved a Ph.D. from York University in Toronto (1992), where he specialized eighteenth-century English literature.

King moved to England to take up a position as a post-doctoral research fellow at University College, London. It was at this time that he began writing his first novel.

For Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, King was nominated in 2003 for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Brunelleschi’s Dome was on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle, and was the recipient of several awards including the 2000 Book Sense Nonfiction Book of the Year.

He lectures frequently in both Europe and North America, and has given guided tours of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence and of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

King currently lives in Woodstock, England with his wife Melanie

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost didn't make it through this, and freely admit I ended up skimming most of the last third of the book. The academic in me was definitely impressed by the breadth and depth of information jammed into this volume, but mostly it felt excessive and self-indulgent, rendering almost unreadable what had all the makings of an excellent story. I was surprised, as I've liked everything else I've read by Ross King and certainly knew to expect a certain tone and scholarly pursuit of plot, but for some reason it just didn't shake out nearly as well in this as it did in Ex Libris or any of King's exceptional nonfiction offerings.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of threads in this book. So many in fact that the author never finished the story. The reader never does figure out what the main character wanted or succeeded in getting.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, this author's research and writing style is brilliant. Unfortunately, this book is like a roller coaster, with segments that are intriguing and entertaining, but long chapters where the reader believes the best part of the book may be the end (brilliant and boring may be an appropriate summary). Domino has a philosophical theme that is intriguing, but the character development and plot (or lack thereof) left me disappointed. I place this in the category of a good idea - a writing with potential - that misses the mark.

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Es un libro difícil de describir.... No se sabe lo que pasa casi hasta el final, cuando uno se da cuenta que tampoco se sabe.
Mister Cautley, un pintor muy recién llegado a Londres, es el receptor de una historia ocurrida muchos años antes, donde el protagonista es un castrato llamado Tristano, mientras él mismo vive su propia historia relacionada con la que le están narrando.
Da ganas de dejarlo en el camino sin leer muchas veces, solo las partes con diálogos lo hacen menos pesado, pero al final, uno queda con la sensación que aunque bien escrito, perdió el tiempo en su lectura....

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be a bit hard to get into. It is a story within a story, and a story being told in that story. The ending was interesting but not enough to save the book for me.

[Roswitha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm throwing in the towel on this one. The pageantry of 18th century life is on display in remarkably rich detail, but the characters are mostly types -- familiar ones who seem to be culled straight from Fielding and Richardson and who were therefore remarkably predictable. Ross's characters take too many walks and struggle too much with the weather and take too many paragraphs simply to respond to remarks that are put to them. Ross King gets the tone just right, and he notices and writes about an awful that period authors seem to have considered beneath their notice. But its not enough to make this book compelling. In fact, this novel is off-putting. He keeps setting up all this interesting scenarios and then never developing them. Despite all the intriguing settings and set-pieces, nothing much happens. This was King's first book; he eventually went on to write award-winning art historical tomes. A wise decision on his part.

[Vika Ryabova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Нудная, затянутая стилизация под готический роман... Или под барочный? :) В общем, действие разворачивается в Англии и Италии. Действия собственно два: две истории. Одна рассказывается в другой с разницей в 50 лет. И все это, кажется, восемнадцатый век...

Оперные кастраты, безумные маскарады, истерические травести, экзальтированные содержанки и, конечно, невинные души из провинции, попадающие в это порочное общество. Скука.

[Kaitlin Hubbard · Rating 2 out of 5]

First half of the book was so hard to get into. 2nd half got a little better, but this book was just so hard to get through. Way too long winded with descriptions of scenery, felt like that was 80 percent of the book. Just not an interesting read. Ending was confusing and felt rushed.

[Irina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frankly I didn’t understood a thing about the story. The time lines are very confusing, can’t find the coherence! Unfortunately I didnt like. Really had high hopes

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale with an embedded tale set in Italy and England in 1720 and then England again in the 1770s. The voyages of an Italian castrato and a young aspiring English painter. Are the two tales connected? Are the narrators reliable? Just who are these people?

King leaves these questions to the reader to work out, if they can.

This gets three stars for the good writing. The plot(s) are confusing, the motivations of the characters unclear. But it is certainly atmospheric and conjures up time and space very well.

Rated M for moderate violence and adult themes.

[Niklaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indubbiamente il libro è ben scritto ed è accurato nella descrizione della Londra (ma anche di Venezia e Napoli) di fine '700. Manca tuttavia di quel qualcosa in grado di trasformare un libro leggibile in un libro "da leggere". Tra i difetti menziono l'eccessiva lunghezza, caratteristica che solo pochi autori come Stephen King, possono affrontare senza sedare il lettore. Alcune parti poteva agevolmente essere tagliate e il lettore ne avrebbe giovato. C'è di meglio in giro.

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-written, tightly organized, dual story of two young men a generation apart picking their way through a wanton, masked society. Beautiful settings and full of lush description, but the protagonist is frustratingly naive. Explores duality, reality and illusion, truth and distortion, and gender identity, and the form mirrors the themes. Nonetheless, it is a frustrating story.

[Monica]

Ross Kisg is lecturing in NYC. wish I was there -- a historical novel, Domino, about the world of masquerades and opera in 18th-century London. King is best known to American readers as the author of the nonfiction Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. --The Frick Collection

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love historical fiction. The 18th century is one of my fave centuries, and I loved all of the details about the clothing and food and such. My biggest problem with this book was that the plot was kind of convoluted. There are so many mistaken identities and hidden identities that I got confused.

[Christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I didn't like this book. The main character reminded me of someone from Goldsmith, the history was good, the sense of place was pretty good, and yet somehow I could not get very interested. Kudos to the author for the research, but something went really wrong somewhere for me to get bored with a book and give up reading it.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written book by a well respected historian. The author mimicked the writing style of the period (early 19th century) and his descriptions, settings and research was fine. However, I found the story hard to follow and it didn't come together for me, though perhaps I should have read it in a shorter period of time.

[AV AV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtig verhaald. Twee verhaallijnen in twee werelden in twee perioden door elkaar. Niet een boek om er even bij te lezen. Ik moest het terugbrengen naar de bieb. Ik heb het niet geheel kunnen lezen. Ik pak de draad wel weer eens op.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

The guy has an ear for patterns of 18th-century speech, but the story draaaags along as he indulges in extended
descriptions of dress and make up. Candide gets lost in a costume shop . . .

[Clewis2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

good

[Jan Cocquyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books enters my personal top ten of best fiction books ever!

[Jenine Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a few stories woven together. It was very interesting, but left me very confused at the end.

[Larry]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13211108

[Dennis Weeks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read two amazing books by Ross King. Domino is my third of his books and it is quite a disappointment

[Sarah "Kat"]

recycled, didn't read