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The Sonnet Lover
For how thy memory has lingered on–
In spite of cruelest winter’s drear and howl–
By inner mirror seen; I’ve dwelled upon,
I must confess, my treachery most foul.
Did Shakespeare pen a series of passionate sonnets, unknown to modern scholarship, ardently praising a mysterious dark-haired beauty? This tantalizing question is raised in a letter to literature professor Rose Asher. But the letter’s author, Rose’s star pupil, is not telling. A troubled, enigmatic young man, he plunged to his death in front of the college’s entire faculty, an apparent suicide. Determined to find the truth, Rose journeys from New York to Italy, back to the magnificent Tuscan villa where as an undergraduate she first fell in love.
La Civetta is a dreamlike place, resplendent with the heady scent of lemon trees and the sunset’s ocher wash across its bricks and cobbles. Once there Rose finds her first love still in residence. Torn between her mission and her rekindled feelings, Rose becomes enmeshed in a treacherous tangle of secrets and scandal. A folio containing what some believe to be one of Shakespeare’s lost sonnets has vanished, and literary immortality awaits whoever finds the manuscript–as do a vast Italian estate and a Hollywood movie deal. Uncertain whom she can trust and where she can turn, Rose races against time and unseen enemies in a bid to find the missing masterpiece.
Lush, lyrical, and enthralling, The Sonnet Lover vividly brings to life the Tuscan countryside and the fascinating world of the Renaissance poets. Unmatched in her ability to evoke atmosphere and intrigue, Carol Goodman delivers her most ambitious and satisfying work to date, a seductive novel that skillfully propels its reader headlong to the final suspenseful page.
In spite of cruelest winter’s drear and howl–
By inner mirror seen; I’ve dwelled upon,
I must confess, my treachery most foul.
Did Shakespeare pen a series of passionate sonnets, unknown to modern scholarship, ardently praising a mysterious dark-haired beauty? This tantalizing question is raised in a letter to literature professor Rose Asher. But the letter’s author, Rose’s star pupil, is not telling. A troubled, enigmatic young man, he plunged to his death in front of the college’s entire faculty, an apparent suicide. Determined to find the truth, Rose journeys from New York to Italy, back to the magnificent Tuscan villa where as an undergraduate she first fell in love.
La Civetta is a dreamlike place, resplendent with the heady scent of lemon trees and the sunset’s ocher wash across its bricks and cobbles. Once there Rose finds her first love still in residence. Torn between her mission and her rekindled feelings, Rose becomes enmeshed in a treacherous tangle of secrets and scandal. A folio containing what some believe to be one of Shakespeare’s lost sonnets has vanished, and literary immortality awaits whoever finds the manuscript–as do a vast Italian estate and a Hollywood movie deal. Uncertain whom she can trust and where she can turn, Rose races against time and unseen enemies in a bid to find the missing masterpiece.
Lush, lyrical, and enthralling, The Sonnet Lover vividly brings to life the Tuscan countryside and the fascinating world of the Renaissance poets. Unmatched in her ability to evoke atmosphere and intrigue, Carol Goodman delivers her most ambitious and satisfying work to date, a seductive novel that skillfully propels its reader headlong to the final suspenseful page.
350 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
46 people are currently reading
1195 people want to read
About the author
Carol Goodman
35 books2,914 followersCarol Goodman is the author of The Lake of Dead Languages, The Seduction of Water, which won the Hammett Prize, The Widow's House, which won the Mary Higgins Clark Award and The Night Visitors, which won the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the co-author, with her husband Lee Slonimsky, of the Watchtower fantasy trilogy. Her work has appeared in such journals as The Greensboro Review, Literal Latte, The Midwest Quarterly, and Other Voices. After graduation from Vassar College, where she majored in Latin, she taught Latin for several years in Austin, Texas. She then received an M.F.A. in fiction from the New School University. Goodman currently teaches literature and writing at The New School and SUNY New Paltz and lives with her family in the Hudson Valley.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
August 9, 2008
This is one of those books I wanted to like a great deal more than I actually did. The premise was very interesting to me: Rose Asher, a lit professor who specializes in Renaissance sonnets, finds herself drawn into a controversy surrounding the discovery of a cache of new work that might have been written by a lover of William Shakespeare. In her quest to discover the truth behind these mysterious poems, she travels to Italy where she has to confront not just the past of her elusive poet, but also unresolved emotions from her own.
The primary strength of this book lies in Goodman’s ability to capture a sense of place. Her descriptions of the Italian villa where much of the book is set are beautifully drawn, and her integration of the customs of both modern and historical Florence was particularly interesting to me.
Unfortunately, these few gems are weighed down by a surprisingly clunky plot. Asher’s trip to Italy is inspired by an early twist that relied on so many highly implausible events, it broke the spell of the story early on. I kept going because I enjoyed certain aspects of the writing, but I was disappointed to discover that the plot throughout relies heavily on things like chance eavesdropping and coincidental meetings to move the story forward. In addition, I have never been more aware of an author’s manipulation of character actions than in this book. With any first person story, it’s always hard to know the true motivation of secondary characters, but in this case, those characters rarely behaved in ways that were consistent with anything other than a formulaic need to move the plot along in a suspenseful fashion.
This is Goodman’s fifth book, and I’ve noted other reviewers say it is not as good as her earlier works. Aspects of the writing were appealing enough for me to think I might look for some of her previous books, but I can’t really recommend this one.
The primary strength of this book lies in Goodman’s ability to capture a sense of place. Her descriptions of the Italian villa where much of the book is set are beautifully drawn, and her integration of the customs of both modern and historical Florence was particularly interesting to me.
Unfortunately, these few gems are weighed down by a surprisingly clunky plot. Asher’s trip to Italy is inspired by an early twist that relied on so many highly implausible events, it broke the spell of the story early on. I kept going because I enjoyed certain aspects of the writing, but I was disappointed to discover that the plot throughout relies heavily on things like chance eavesdropping and coincidental meetings to move the story forward. In addition, I have never been more aware of an author’s manipulation of character actions than in this book. With any first person story, it’s always hard to know the true motivation of secondary characters, but in this case, those characters rarely behaved in ways that were consistent with anything other than a formulaic need to move the plot along in a suspenseful fashion.
This is Goodman’s fifth book, and I’ve noted other reviewers say it is not as good as her earlier works. Aspects of the writing were appealing enough for me to think I might look for some of her previous books, but I can’t really recommend this one.
July 13, 2010
The Sonnet Lover
Perhaps I write and live in a bookstore because of the feeling this book gives me. Or to be exact page 350. That feeling of my heart filling up, cara, completely satisfied with the writing (and I have been told I am too picky about that), story, ending, plot, characterization, pace, language. One would therefore surmise this one is a ‘spiritual’ book knowing me. Decidedly not, it is a literary mystery. But then, I am talking about what Shakespeare has, that, like Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen, an ability to be wise without being either overt or preaching or religious or out in the ethers.
This book at times reminds me of Tam Lin, Jane Fairfax, Room With a View and Persuasion but is not derivative of them; it is in the tradition of.
Yet when I simply enjoy reading as other tasks call, am unable to part with it, carrying it to the market and recycling center because there might be a chance to read along the way if the car stalls or the stream floods or the mountains fall up – I need to have The Sonnet Lover with me just in case I can read a few pages.
And then, when I have gulped it in two days and I will never get to read it again for the first time, am I sorry? No!!! Never!!! For such books are too far between good reads and I found one.
What I am rambling? Primly, it’s a well-researched, up to date novel, leaping from Washington Square to Tuscany to the Lake Country in a very satisfyingly imaginative plot that I wish were true. That seventeen-year-old Will Shakespeare did have a Florentine artisan lover in the time he spent in Italy (????) who became a great sonnet writer across time untangling other true loves. Does that sound mawkish? No, never, impossible. . .
Fantasy? Not really, literary speculation is so much more delightful. A mystery, sort of, if you count some murders to further the plot. Enthralling, a joy to read, poetic, sage, memorable. And while the Twitter workshop sign tosses in the mountain air outside my bookshop, I shout with gladness that I did not read it on a kindle but with the touch of good paper stock flying through my fingers.
Imaginative literary fiction - what a joy. Will I sell it? Only if another copy waltzes in the door.
Perhaps I write and live in a bookstore because of the feeling this book gives me. Or to be exact page 350. That feeling of my heart filling up, cara, completely satisfied with the writing (and I have been told I am too picky about that), story, ending, plot, characterization, pace, language. One would therefore surmise this one is a ‘spiritual’ book knowing me. Decidedly not, it is a literary mystery. But then, I am talking about what Shakespeare has, that, like Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen, an ability to be wise without being either overt or preaching or religious or out in the ethers.
This book at times reminds me of Tam Lin, Jane Fairfax, Room With a View and Persuasion but is not derivative of them; it is in the tradition of.
Yet when I simply enjoy reading as other tasks call, am unable to part with it, carrying it to the market and recycling center because there might be a chance to read along the way if the car stalls or the stream floods or the mountains fall up – I need to have The Sonnet Lover with me just in case I can read a few pages.
And then, when I have gulped it in two days and I will never get to read it again for the first time, am I sorry? No!!! Never!!! For such books are too far between good reads and I found one.
What I am rambling? Primly, it’s a well-researched, up to date novel, leaping from Washington Square to Tuscany to the Lake Country in a very satisfyingly imaginative plot that I wish were true. That seventeen-year-old Will Shakespeare did have a Florentine artisan lover in the time he spent in Italy (????) who became a great sonnet writer across time untangling other true loves. Does that sound mawkish? No, never, impossible. . .
Fantasy? Not really, literary speculation is so much more delightful. A mystery, sort of, if you count some murders to further the plot. Enthralling, a joy to read, poetic, sage, memorable. And while the Twitter workshop sign tosses in the mountain air outside my bookshop, I shout with gladness that I did not read it on a kindle but with the touch of good paper stock flying through my fingers.
Imaginative literary fiction - what a joy. Will I sell it? Only if another copy waltzes in the door.
February 8, 2012
Normally, I can't read Goodman's books fast enough but this one took some work. The beginning was slow for me. I had to work hard to get into the story. Then, the author introduces a flood of characters all at once. It took me a while to figure everyone out and the lawsuit that runs throughout the book isn't explained very well. Perhaps if I had been able to read it all in one sitting it would have been easier.
When the story does finally pick up it moves quickly! The resolution at the Italian villa was very exciting (although anyone reading knew who the evil person was from the very beginning), but the end in England was a bit of a letdown. The main character is so caught up in her lost lover that she completely glosses over the most important discovery in the book.
The other thing I found disappointing was how underdeveloped the Daisy character was in the story. When she was first introduced I was excited. I thought she would become something totally amazing as the story went on, and there are hints of that throughout the book, but in the end she becomes an underutilized side character.
I love Carol Goodman's books but I would rate this one in the bottom three. For her best read "The Drowning Tree."
When the story does finally pick up it moves quickly! The resolution at the Italian villa was very exciting (although anyone reading knew who the evil person was from the very beginning), but the end in England was a bit of a letdown. The main character is so caught up in her lost lover that she completely glosses over the most important discovery in the book.
The other thing I found disappointing was how underdeveloped the Daisy character was in the story. When she was first introduced I was excited. I thought she would become something totally amazing as the story went on, and there are hints of that throughout the book, but in the end she becomes an underutilized side character.
I love Carol Goodman's books but I would rate this one in the bottom three. For her best read "The Drowning Tree."
April 18, 2009
This ended up being my least favorite of Carol Goodman's books. All of the others were completely absorbing, but I found my attention wandering while reading this one. I wasn't very interested in the mystery from the past, which revolved around the identity of the Dark Lady in Shakespeare's sonnets. The present-day mystery and love story weren't much better; nothing felt authentic. Goodman can do much better.
October 29, 2023
The Sonnet Lover is a very flawed but interesting read. I worked out early on that there were problems with the first person narrator Rose Asher and that she was not analytical enough to work out what actually happened to her student Robin Weiss. However, like other reviewers I was entranced by Villa La Civetta and the setting more than the characters and that’s what kept me reading this novel.
Here is Rose negotiating the old steps down to the rose garden:
“There are whole steps missing and some that rock when you step on them. Small green lizards, which have colonized the ruined steps, dart under my feet, nearly causing me to trip several times. At the first landing, where the steps turn sharply right to descend into the rose garden, a statue of some ill-fated goddess or nymph has toppled over into a heap of broken limbs. Her face is half covered with vines, one eye staring up towards the top of the stairs as if waiting for someone to come down and save her.
‘No one’s coming, honey,’ I say stepping over her.”
I did appreciate the details about the life of a stonemason and his daughter and the draconian rules regarding what happened to Italian wives when their husbands died. I also enjoyed Rose’s shopping expedition to Florence with Mara. I know I keep moaning about such things but with a glorious Tuscan villa and a tighter script this would make a marvellous movie. Three and a half stars.
Here is Rose negotiating the old steps down to the rose garden:
“There are whole steps missing and some that rock when you step on them. Small green lizards, which have colonized the ruined steps, dart under my feet, nearly causing me to trip several times. At the first landing, where the steps turn sharply right to descend into the rose garden, a statue of some ill-fated goddess or nymph has toppled over into a heap of broken limbs. Her face is half covered with vines, one eye staring up towards the top of the stairs as if waiting for someone to come down and save her.
‘No one’s coming, honey,’ I say stepping over her.”
I did appreciate the details about the life of a stonemason and his daughter and the draconian rules regarding what happened to Italian wives when their husbands died. I also enjoyed Rose’s shopping expedition to Florence with Mara. I know I keep moaning about such things but with a glorious Tuscan villa and a tighter script this would make a marvellous movie. Three and a half stars.
August 22, 2010
Carol Goodman's "The Sonnet Lover" paints an interesting portrait in its premise, like many of the author's works in consideration. A professor at a college returns to Italy after 20 years - in the event of the questionable death of one of her students. The questionable nature of it lies in a letter the student, Robin, leaves her just moments before his death. Rose Anders believes that one of the boys (Orlando) who was close to scene of Robin's death may have murdered him, and also might hold the key to a series of poems that might've been penned by Shakespeare regardling a lost lover.
This is Goodman's weakest novel for me, by a long, long shot. I'll start with the good things she does in this novel - she has an apt sense of place and atmosphere, and I found that in the better stretches of the work, it immersed me, and I followed Rose's discoveries and observations with keen interest - at least in the visual spectrum. Also, I did like that she plays upon a theme of poetry throughout the work. Some of the selected poems I really liked and it appealed to my love of the medium (which is my first love in writing).
However, I hate to say that there are a myriad of flaws and downsides to this work. The overall plot is clunky and duly paced. The vast majority of the cast feels flat and lacking connection with the heart of what the story tries to tell. Unlike Goodman's previous works, there's a disconnect to the characters that never gets off the ground. That's why I felt a lot of the love scenes and attempts to get you to care about the characters fall off-center.
I did get a sense of Rose's perspective, and that made me follow the book to the end. She's flawed, and I could see from her history why, but the character's voice and relation of her surroundings didn't feel natural. The descriptions of the limonata are incredibly repetitive, and I could point out several places in the book where the observations came too similar in tone to where the illusion broke from me.
As far as the mystery is concerned - terribly disappointing, and I think if you're a mystery fan who wants a significant, hearted reveal - it's not in this book. I guessed the person behind the plot after the "incident," and while there was one moment in the book where I had significant doubt, the threads that lead you through it are quite obvious in orientation.
It's a difficult book for me to rate, but I will say it disappointed me, and it's not appealing enough for me to want to read it a second time. She's written much better works than this.
Overall score: 1.5/5
This is Goodman's weakest novel for me, by a long, long shot. I'll start with the good things she does in this novel - she has an apt sense of place and atmosphere, and I found that in the better stretches of the work, it immersed me, and I followed Rose's discoveries and observations with keen interest - at least in the visual spectrum. Also, I did like that she plays upon a theme of poetry throughout the work. Some of the selected poems I really liked and it appealed to my love of the medium (which is my first love in writing).
However, I hate to say that there are a myriad of flaws and downsides to this work. The overall plot is clunky and duly paced. The vast majority of the cast feels flat and lacking connection with the heart of what the story tries to tell. Unlike Goodman's previous works, there's a disconnect to the characters that never gets off the ground. That's why I felt a lot of the love scenes and attempts to get you to care about the characters fall off-center.
I did get a sense of Rose's perspective, and that made me follow the book to the end. She's flawed, and I could see from her history why, but the character's voice and relation of her surroundings didn't feel natural. The descriptions of the limonata are incredibly repetitive, and I could point out several places in the book where the observations came too similar in tone to where the illusion broke from me.
As far as the mystery is concerned - terribly disappointing, and I think if you're a mystery fan who wants a significant, hearted reveal - it's not in this book. I guessed the person behind the plot after the "incident," and while there was one moment in the book where I had significant doubt, the threads that lead you through it are quite obvious in orientation.
It's a difficult book for me to rate, but I will say it disappointed me, and it's not appealing enough for me to want to read it a second time. She's written much better works than this.
Overall score: 1.5/5
July 28, 2012
I picked it up at the library book store because it was a scholarly mystery--my weakness. Meh. Not nearly as enchanting as I was led to believe by the book blurb. "Did Shakespeare pen a series of passionate sonnets, unknown to modern scholarship, ardently praising a mysterious dark-haired beauty?" The better question is: Do we care? Not so much. The best part of the book? The very first line: "The most thankless job on the planet may well be teaching Renaissance love poetry to a group of hormone-dazed adolescents on a beautiful spring day." If only the rest of the book had been as good. Predictable. Not nearly as exciting as anticipated. Not even a decent mystery to help out with the total lack of connection to the characters. I'm really torn on whether to keep this or not....anyone who knows me knows how hard it is for me to give up a book. AND it's got an academic setting and a scholar as the main character. But I think this one is destined to be re-donated to the library store. Two stars out of five.
This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
December 22, 2009
Reading this reminded me of why I decided to major in English Lit. I was reminded of my once love affair with poets like Shakespeare and Dante, and of how sonnets, poetry and the written word, in general, can move people - to tears, to action, and, in this case, to murder. When one of Professor Rose Asher’s students is killed, Rose travels to Italy to research some lost sonnets believed to be linked to William Shakespeare. Interesting premise that should’ve led to a great mystery, but for me, it was Goodman’s vivid descriptions that stole the show. The writing is so sensual and evocative, I swear I smelled lemons in the middle of reading this. While the atmosphere came alive, the characters, unfortunately, did not, and I was left wanting, grasping for more.
May 24, 2020
OK, I ended up giving up on this book. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is the fact that the scenery described is just beautiful and makes me want to visit Italy.
Other than that, well this was a bit of a snore fest. It took a hundred pages to get going and then turned odd with it's story. I just kept facilitating between rolling my eyes and being grossed out. I get it, sometimes gross things happen in life or we see something gross but I don't really want to read about it in a novel where it's just used for shock purposes. The base story sounded so great, a possibility for Shakespeare's dark lady but o my, the authoress writes about like everything else except that. And then will drop a scene in where the heroine finds a small clue about the Lady but then, immediately, hears something or sees something that furthers the murder mystery. I'm just not in love with this book and now, over two hundred pages in, it just feels boring. It's not difficult to see where the story is going and I just want it to end.
If giving no stars was an option, I'd have given this one, just for the power of the descriptions.
Other than that, well this was a bit of a snore fest. It took a hundred pages to get going and then turned odd with it's story. I just kept facilitating between rolling my eyes and being grossed out. I get it, sometimes gross things happen in life or we see something gross but I don't really want to read about it in a novel where it's just used for shock purposes. The base story sounded so great, a possibility for Shakespeare's dark lady but o my, the authoress writes about like everything else except that. And then will drop a scene in where the heroine finds a small clue about the Lady but then, immediately, hears something or sees something that furthers the murder mystery. I'm just not in love with this book and now, over two hundred pages in, it just feels boring. It's not difficult to see where the story is going and I just want it to end.
If giving no stars was an option, I'd have given this one, just for the power of the descriptions.
October 6, 2012
This book turned out to be quite a disappointment for me. I'm a big fan of Goodman's, but this one committed too many writing sins for me to really enjoy it. It followed formula a little too closely, and I thought there were far too many instances of convenience. This book just felt like a pale imitation of some of Goodman's other, better works, like The Lake of Dead Languages. Some minor spoilers to follow.
One of the major problems of the book, for me, was Rose. I never really connected with her. She wasn't a bad character, but I thought her characterization was a bit on the thin side. I didn't really ever feel like she was a real person, so I couldn't really connect with her personal dramas. Plus, for someone who's supposed to be this highly education professor, she did a lot of dumb things. I get that this was supposed to illustrate how conflicted she was, how difficult it was for her to do the right thing when doing the right thing threatened to destroy her own happiness. Still, she just struck me as far too wishy washy.
Another major issue in the book is convenience, mainly in the form of characters suddenly dropping into the narrative to offer up important clues to the main character. There's also a whole lot of coincidence going on here, and I got to a point where I just couldn't buy into it anymore. It's not so much that Rose figures things out as that she just happens to be in the right place at the right time meeting the right person who tells her exactly what she needs to know. It all added up to a little too much serendipity for me.
My other issue with this book was the story within a story involving William Shakespeare and Ginevra De Laura. Sometimes I can handle a book taking an historical figure and shaping them in a way that seems incongruous with what I think of that person. At others, as with this book, I simply can't buy it. The entire book, everyone seems to be stretching to connect Shakespeare and De Laura, and then things suddenly fall into place at the end, providing a very flimsy bit of evidence as proof. It just didn't do it for me. I was actually very interested in Ginevra's story (more so than Rose's, truth be told), and I think I'd have enjoyed this aspect of the book much more had Rose simply been interested in learning about Ginevra. By doing all kinds of contortions to connect Ginevra with Shakespeare, I think the book does a real disservice to Ginvera, as it's basically stating that Ginevra's story is only important because of her connection to Shakespeare.
As for the mystery, I had it figured out long before the real culprit was revealed. It would have made for a meaty story, as it's interesting for books to explore how people's aspirations and passions can drive their darker sides, but it just didn't work in this book for two reasons: 1) the book seemed to care more about Ginevra and probably should have just focused on her and 2) not a single character in the book was so compelling as to make me feel anything for them other than a detached sense of watching their dramas play out.
It's a letdown to read a book like this from an author whose works I usually enjoy. Goodman writes gothic mysteries unlike any other author I've read, and it's a style that particularly appeals to me. Fortunately, I've read enough of her books to know that they get much better than this one, so it hasn't made me decide to put her books aside entirely. I'd hate for this one to be the first book someone read by her, though, as I think it would give them the wrong impression about her talents.
One of the major problems of the book, for me, was Rose. I never really connected with her. She wasn't a bad character, but I thought her characterization was a bit on the thin side. I didn't really ever feel like she was a real person, so I couldn't really connect with her personal dramas. Plus, for someone who's supposed to be this highly education professor, she did a lot of dumb things. I get that this was supposed to illustrate how conflicted she was, how difficult it was for her to do the right thing when doing the right thing threatened to destroy her own happiness. Still, she just struck me as far too wishy washy.
Another major issue in the book is convenience, mainly in the form of characters suddenly dropping into the narrative to offer up important clues to the main character. There's also a whole lot of coincidence going on here, and I got to a point where I just couldn't buy into it anymore. It's not so much that Rose figures things out as that she just happens to be in the right place at the right time meeting the right person who tells her exactly what she needs to know. It all added up to a little too much serendipity for me.
My other issue with this book was the story within a story involving William Shakespeare and Ginevra De Laura. Sometimes I can handle a book taking an historical figure and shaping them in a way that seems incongruous with what I think of that person. At others, as with this book, I simply can't buy it. The entire book, everyone seems to be stretching to connect Shakespeare and De Laura, and then things suddenly fall into place at the end, providing a very flimsy bit of evidence as proof. It just didn't do it for me. I was actually very interested in Ginevra's story (more so than Rose's, truth be told), and I think I'd have enjoyed this aspect of the book much more had Rose simply been interested in learning about Ginevra. By doing all kinds of contortions to connect Ginevra with Shakespeare, I think the book does a real disservice to Ginvera, as it's basically stating that Ginevra's story is only important because of her connection to Shakespeare.
As for the mystery, I had it figured out long before the real culprit was revealed. It would have made for a meaty story, as it's interesting for books to explore how people's aspirations and passions can drive their darker sides, but it just didn't work in this book for two reasons: 1) the book seemed to care more about Ginevra and probably should have just focused on her and 2) not a single character in the book was so compelling as to make me feel anything for them other than a detached sense of watching their dramas play out.
It's a letdown to read a book like this from an author whose works I usually enjoy. Goodman writes gothic mysteries unlike any other author I've read, and it's a style that particularly appeals to me. Fortunately, I've read enough of her books to know that they get much better than this one, so it hasn't made me decide to put her books aside entirely. I'd hate for this one to be the first book someone read by her, though, as I think it would give them the wrong impression about her talents.
September 30, 2016
This was my least favorite Goodman book. I thought I'd really like the Shakespeare tie-in about the main character discovering the possible identity of the "Dark Lady" of the sonnets, but the story itself was confusing and actually pretty boring. The story starts with weird behavior from Rose's star pupil, then there's a thread about a movie being filmed on site about what this student apparently discovered at a villa in Florence. Then the student dies, then the movie producer (randomly) asks Rose to come consult on the sonnets they might include in the film, then you discover that a cast of bad characters are all there for the summer. There were two connected mysteries (did Robin really find authentic 16th century sonnets written to Shakespeare from the Dark Lady and was he ultimately killed for their attempted possession?) but the latter was put on the back burner for a time, and the former was obvious despite the red herring about Robin's history of plagiarism.
Plus it was obvious to me who the bad guy was from the beginning.
Anyway, I spent half the book confused about what was happening and what cassoni and other various Italian decorations were. Definitely would recommend The Ghost OrchidThe Lake of Dead Languages instead.
Plus it was obvious to me who the bad guy was from the beginning.
Anyway, I spent half the book confused about what was happening and what cassoni and other various Italian decorations were. Definitely would recommend The Ghost OrchidThe Lake of Dead Languages instead.
August 25, 2016
Rose Asher is a literature professor at Hudson College in New York City. Her star pupil, Robin, writes her a letter in which he raises the tantalising question as to whether there exists a series of passionate sonnets written by Ginevra de Laura, a 16th Century Italian poet who might be Shakespeare's Dark Lady. However, before Rose can discover more tragedy strikes. In order to uncover the truth Rose accepts the position of historical consultant for a movie about Ginevra de Laura based on a screenplay by Robin that will be filmed at La Civetta, the magnificent Tuscan villa that had been her home. Twenty years ago Rose had studied there as an undergraduate and had fallen in love with her married tutor, who broke her heart when he returned to his pregnant wife. Bruno Brunelli is still in residence at the villa long with his wife. Rose is torn between her mission and the feelings she still has for her former lover though her current flame is also along on the trip.
The plot is packed thickly with intrigue, scandal and secrets and Rose becomes unsure who she can trust. Meanwhile, in the background summer school students waft about rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummers' Nights Dream, which adds a rather surreal quality to the narrative. The descriptions of Tuscany and Florence are exquisite though it doesn't make up for a rather muddled and overly melodramatic plot. This muddle isn't helped by the publisher's official synopsis, which states that the lost sonnets everyone is so keen to get their hands on are by Shakespeare rather than by Ginevra de Laura, which is odd and makes me think they haven't actually read the novel.
I still enjoyed the novel but to a lesser degree than other of her novels that I have read to date. I also wished that there had been some form of author's note at the conclusion.
A minor issue but it bothered me when in a chapter set in England Rose was in a pub drinking Guinness, which was then described as lager (!) and then as warm sour beer. Of course lager is a beer but in all the years I've been served it in British pubs it's been served chilled and tends towards sweetness. Anyway, this was all in the course of a couple of pages about the same mug of whatever they were drinking.
The plot is packed thickly with intrigue, scandal and secrets and Rose becomes unsure who she can trust. Meanwhile, in the background summer school students waft about rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummers' Nights Dream, which adds a rather surreal quality to the narrative. The descriptions of Tuscany and Florence are exquisite though it doesn't make up for a rather muddled and overly melodramatic plot. This muddle isn't helped by the publisher's official synopsis, which states that the lost sonnets everyone is so keen to get their hands on are by Shakespeare rather than by Ginevra de Laura, which is odd and makes me think they haven't actually read the novel.
I still enjoyed the novel but to a lesser degree than other of her novels that I have read to date. I also wished that there had been some form of author's note at the conclusion.
A minor issue but it bothered me when in a chapter set in England Rose was in a pub drinking Guinness, which was then described as lager (!) and then as warm sour beer. Of course lager is a beer but in all the years I've been served it in British pubs it's been served chilled and tends towards sweetness. Anyway, this was all in the course of a couple of pages about the same mug of whatever they were drinking.
March 3, 2016
For a smart lady, Comparative Literature professor, Dr Rose Asher is surprisingly dim. And not only do we, the reader, realise this. The good protagonist herself admits to being wrong about implausibly arrived at assumptions to do with relationships, sexual orientation, motivation and basic human decency as it relates to almost every single character in the book. It's uncanny, and unbelievable, how wholesale her ineptness is.
Every character in this novel is deeply flawed, except for her Hudson College colleague Chihiro, who is not only satorially experimentally but has unerring accuracy in understanding and predicting people and "ships" (relationships, abbreviated in the new parlance of modern technology, as per "blog"). Thank god someone is good at this stuff, because our heroine stumbles around like a drunk bull in a tea shop, staggering from one chance encounter to the next eavesdropped conversation, trying to piece it all together in an extraordinarily ham fisted way. It's kinda excruciating.
EXCEPT. Carol Goodman can write. Boy oh boy, can she write. I felt like I was watching a movie, that's how lushly she drew the places and spaces the story is set in. Magnificent writing. Just not so great plotting, and characterisation seems to be in need of improvement, too.
But back to the badlands. if I had to read yet another 14 line sonnet, which I ended up skipping altogether as the book progressed, I'd scream. Enough with the sonnets!! They didn't do much for me, those ever recurring sonnets. Although I appreciate they probably book an awful lot of research and effort to write, so they plausibly resembled something written in the time of Shakespeare.
So all in all, a mixed bag of a read.
Every character in this novel is deeply flawed, except for her Hudson College colleague Chihiro, who is not only satorially experimentally but has unerring accuracy in understanding and predicting people and "ships" (relationships, abbreviated in the new parlance of modern technology, as per "blog"). Thank god someone is good at this stuff, because our heroine stumbles around like a drunk bull in a tea shop, staggering from one chance encounter to the next eavesdropped conversation, trying to piece it all together in an extraordinarily ham fisted way. It's kinda excruciating.
EXCEPT. Carol Goodman can write. Boy oh boy, can she write. I felt like I was watching a movie, that's how lushly she drew the places and spaces the story is set in. Magnificent writing. Just not so great plotting, and characterisation seems to be in need of improvement, too.
But back to the badlands. if I had to read yet another 14 line sonnet, which I ended up skipping altogether as the book progressed, I'd scream. Enough with the sonnets!! They didn't do much for me, those ever recurring sonnets. Although I appreciate they probably book an awful lot of research and effort to write, so they plausibly resembled something written in the time of Shakespeare.
So all in all, a mixed bag of a read.
February 12, 2008
This book was a little slower moving then the last couple of things I read, so I think it probably took me longer than normal to get into this book. The author had this amazing way of writing so that I felt like I was in the novel. The works really just soaked into me. At the same time though, as someone that hasn’t read a lot of Shakespeare or poetry, there were times I felt a little lost in the words. I would find myself having to reread a piece so I could clarify what was going on.
Though this book is a mystery, it wasn’t the type that has a lot of twists and turns. I guessed who the bad guy was pretty much right away. Like a typical mystery, the novel’s prime suspect seems way too obvious and then at the end (shocker!) you learn who the real bad guy is. The trouble is though, that there was basically only one other person that could have been the “bad guy.” That said, I still enjoyed found myself enjoying the story and some of the explanations for why things happened was really interesting. I found that I didn’t need this be a twisting, turning, shocking mystery because it was so great in other ways.
I also really loved the romance and the sub-plot in this book. The story about Shakespeare’s Dark Lady was fascinating and since I know nothing about this topic, I’m going to do some background research just because I found it so interesting
Good book overall, I would really recommend this. I’ve struggled with whether to give this 3 or 4 stars but I think I’ve settled on 4 stars simply because this books seems to be really sticking with me. I can’t stop thinking about it!
Though this book is a mystery, it wasn’t the type that has a lot of twists and turns. I guessed who the bad guy was pretty much right away. Like a typical mystery, the novel’s prime suspect seems way too obvious and then at the end (shocker!) you learn who the real bad guy is. The trouble is though, that there was basically only one other person that could have been the “bad guy.” That said, I still enjoyed found myself enjoying the story and some of the explanations for why things happened was really interesting. I found that I didn’t need this be a twisting, turning, shocking mystery because it was so great in other ways.
I also really loved the romance and the sub-plot in this book. The story about Shakespeare’s Dark Lady was fascinating and since I know nothing about this topic, I’m going to do some background research just because I found it so interesting
Good book overall, I would really recommend this. I’ve struggled with whether to give this 3 or 4 stars but I think I’ve settled on 4 stars simply because this books seems to be really sticking with me. I can’t stop thinking about it!
December 6, 2008
I'm not really sure why I got this book out of the library. I picked it up randomly and flicked through it, since it was about sonnets and Shakespeare and I've been interested in that kind of thing lately thanks to my courses, and found myself reading it and then curious enough to take it out. The writing itself is reasonably absorbing -- it's in first person, which I didn't like all that much at first, but the descriptions are quite lovely and Carol Goodman does create quite a clear sense of location.
The plot itself is quite ridiculous. It's like The Da Vinci Code, only the danger feels a little ridiculous -- so much violence and murder over a series of poems? It doesn't feel realistic. The action is driven by a series of coincidences and the suspense is kept up mainly by the fact that the narrative is in first person and the narrator didn't want to see the truth. I didn't really get a strong sense of character from the book, at all. The strongest character was maybe that of Mara, a rather neurotic woman who was murdered -- and she was probably only distinctive because of her neuroses.
I did keep reading to find out the end, but all in all it felt like a ridiculously melodramatic book. It only gets two stars because I did like some of the description and the background story of William Shakespeare and Ginevra de Laura, and it did keep me occupied for a while instead of getting tossed swiftly.
The plot itself is quite ridiculous. It's like The Da Vinci Code, only the danger feels a little ridiculous -- so much violence and murder over a series of poems? It doesn't feel realistic. The action is driven by a series of coincidences and the suspense is kept up mainly by the fact that the narrative is in first person and the narrator didn't want to see the truth. I didn't really get a strong sense of character from the book, at all. The strongest character was maybe that of Mara, a rather neurotic woman who was murdered -- and she was probably only distinctive because of her neuroses.
I did keep reading to find out the end, but all in all it felt like a ridiculously melodramatic book. It only gets two stars because I did like some of the description and the background story of William Shakespeare and Ginevra de Laura, and it did keep me occupied for a while instead of getting tossed swiftly.
November 14, 2014
A neat book. A tidy book. Interesting. A lecturer in Comparative literature uncovers murder whilst searching for a connection between Shakespeare and the mysterious Dark Lady of his sonnets. It includes so many things I love - Women, Women who read, libraries, the strange incestuous existence of the literary academic feeding upon both the literature of the past and the necessity to publish in the present. I would love to feel so close to the source of something new in a literary sense. Whether this would be writing a book, or finding a brilliant new entry into an established canon of literature or just simply furthering some wildly interesting research element. There is an undercurrent of romance in the book which is not pushed forward. To a large extent this romance was depicted as part of the past and misunderstandings and manipulation, cowardice and confusion, have all played their part in supposedly finishing that relationship (......)
I personally prefer my literary detectives to form part of a series and if Professor Rose Asher reappears in other works then I think Amanda Cross's Kate Fansler might have a genuine competitor. I didn't give the review 5 stars (only 4) because I need more. I want to know more. Larger longer books with more detail - the world of literature could cope with Asher and Brunelli solving literary mysteries. The books might even include poetry - I'll buy them.
I personally prefer my literary detectives to form part of a series and if Professor Rose Asher reappears in other works then I think Amanda Cross's Kate Fansler might have a genuine competitor. I didn't give the review 5 stars (only 4) because I need more. I want to know more. Larger longer books with more detail - the world of literature could cope with Asher and Brunelli solving literary mysteries. The books might even include poetry - I'll buy them.
December 9, 2007
I loved Carol Goodman's "The Lake of Dead Languages" and was thrilled to find a new book written by her on the library shelf. Unfortunately, I am not going to finish this book. Within the first 35 pages I found two errors which are, given the circumstances, not acceptable. Despite Goodman's thanks in the "Acknowlegdments" section to all those who "gave invaluable assistance in providing and correcting Italian phrases" one of the first Italian words she used was misspelled (On pg. 19 'facia' should be 'faccia.') Okay, so this may be a copywriter oversight and I'm being too much the up-tight teacher, but the first person protagonist is a college English professor who spent time in Italy. This kind of simple error (I'm only at the first year Italian level, for God's sake) shouldn't occur. And then Goodman used the word 'agoraphobe' (fear of open spaces) to describe a character's fear of crowds. Not only did the 'agoraphobe' character fear crowds, but she escapes from a crowd by going out on a balcony ten stories high!! Maybe there aren't any more errors in the book, but frankly Goodman has lost her authority as a writer. There are far too many good books (or at least adequate books) in the world for me to spend time with an English professor (Goodman herself teaches writing) who allows these kinds of errors to creep into her work.
August 15, 2011
Never quite lived up to my hopes...an okay story, but not as thrilling as others.
"Did Shakespeare pen a series of passionate sonnets, unknown to modern scholarship, ardently praising a mysterious dark-haired beauty? This tantalizing question is raised in a letter to literature professor Rose Asher. But the letter’s author, Rose’s star pupil, is not telling. A troubled, enigmatic young man, he plunged to his death in front of the college’s entire faculty, an apparent suicide. Determined to find the truth, Rose journeys from New York to Italy, back to the magnificent Tuscan villa where as an undergraduate she first fell in love. La Civetta is a dreamlike place, resplendent with the heady scent of lemon trees and the sunset’s ocher wash across its bricks and cobbles. Once there Rose finds her first love still in residence. Torn between her mission and her rekindled feelings, Rose becomes enmeshed in a treacherous tangle of secrets and scandal. A folio containing what some believe to be one of Shakespeare’s lost sonnets has vanished, and literary immortality awaits whoever finds the manuscript–as do a vast Italian estate and a Hollywood movie deal. Uncertain whom she can trust and where she can turn, Rose races against time and unseen enemies in a bid to find the missing masterpiece."
"Did Shakespeare pen a series of passionate sonnets, unknown to modern scholarship, ardently praising a mysterious dark-haired beauty? This tantalizing question is raised in a letter to literature professor Rose Asher. But the letter’s author, Rose’s star pupil, is not telling. A troubled, enigmatic young man, he plunged to his death in front of the college’s entire faculty, an apparent suicide. Determined to find the truth, Rose journeys from New York to Italy, back to the magnificent Tuscan villa where as an undergraduate she first fell in love. La Civetta is a dreamlike place, resplendent with the heady scent of lemon trees and the sunset’s ocher wash across its bricks and cobbles. Once there Rose finds her first love still in residence. Torn between her mission and her rekindled feelings, Rose becomes enmeshed in a treacherous tangle of secrets and scandal. A folio containing what some believe to be one of Shakespeare’s lost sonnets has vanished, and literary immortality awaits whoever finds the manuscript–as do a vast Italian estate and a Hollywood movie deal. Uncertain whom she can trust and where she can turn, Rose races against time and unseen enemies in a bid to find the missing masterpiece."
April 30, 2008
Ooh, I liked it! Kind of like the whole Shakespeare in love theme. The story is based on the theory that Shakespeare penned a series of passionate sonnets, unknown to modern scholars, praising a mysterious dark-haired beauty. This question is raised in a letter to a literature professor, Rose, from one of her students. But before she can find out what he knows, he falls off the top story of a campus building, an apparent suicide. She then travels from New York to Italy to a beautiful villa outside Florence to find out the truth.
It is a fun mystery/romance/historical fiction book. I enjoy books that are descriptive enough that I can picture myself there. This author was very good at doing just that in vividly bringing to life the Tuscan countryside and the fascinating world of the Renaissance poets. I could smell the roses in the gardens and the lemons in the "limonaia". Not a lot of depth, at times a bit predictable, but a good vacation read. I think I would read another book from this author.
It is a fun mystery/romance/historical fiction book. I enjoy books that are descriptive enough that I can picture myself there. This author was very good at doing just that in vividly bringing to life the Tuscan countryside and the fascinating world of the Renaissance poets. I could smell the roses in the gardens and the lemons in the "limonaia". Not a lot of depth, at times a bit predictable, but a good vacation read. I think I would read another book from this author.
May 7, 2008
Carol Goodman has a way of making me feel like I am part of the story, like I am there. I love that. The Sonnet Lover has been no exception, and best of all, it takes place in New York City and Florence, Italy so I feel like I've visited these places recently even though I haven't.
Literature professor Rose Asher travels from New York to La Civetta, a tuscan villa in Italy, to search for some mysterious sonnets, perhaps written by Shakespeare's dark lady, and answers to why a student of hers plunged to his death in an apparent suicide. La Civetta is also where she first fell in love, and the tangle of characters are all so well-described I felt like I knew them, too.
I will say I felt lost in some parts of the book. I have not read much Shakespeare or classical poetry, and that part for me was at times confusing. This book has inspired me to perhaps delve more into that arena in the future, and also to read something by Virginia Woolf. On the whole, I did enjoy this novel and will continue to look for more by Goodman!
Literature professor Rose Asher travels from New York to La Civetta, a tuscan villa in Italy, to search for some mysterious sonnets, perhaps written by Shakespeare's dark lady, and answers to why a student of hers plunged to his death in an apparent suicide. La Civetta is also where she first fell in love, and the tangle of characters are all so well-described I felt like I knew them, too.
I will say I felt lost in some parts of the book. I have not read much Shakespeare or classical poetry, and that part for me was at times confusing. This book has inspired me to perhaps delve more into that arena in the future, and also to read something by Virginia Woolf. On the whole, I did enjoy this novel and will continue to look for more by Goodman!
July 24, 2011
This contemporary tale involves a comparative literature professor, Rose Asher, at a small liberal arts college in New York City. When one of her students dies, she is drawn back to Italy and her past intersects with her search for poems by an Italian woman who may be Shakespeare's Dark Lady. Players include a movie producer working on a film based on her student Robin's screenplay, her formeI lover and his wife and son, the dean and her current lover, another professor and his wife, and the owner of the villa where the school's Italian program resides. The author's descriptions made me really see the places and objects in her stories.The precious stone inlay floor (pietra dura) of rose petals/ blood was particularyly resonant to me. I don't know what it is about her writing, but I have this response to almost all of her books. I enjoyed the story, and unlike some of the other reviewers, I found the characters to be be believable. I could relate to Rose. This book was obviously well researched and I really enjoyed reading it. I look forward to her next book.
May 29, 2018
I was wandering the shelves of my library trying to find something good for the Memorial Day Weekend when I came across Carol Goodman's books. I hadn't read anything by her in years though I loved what I had read -- Arcadia Falls and The Drowning Tree. As usual, Goodman has created a beautifully written and plotted novel that invites readers into a rather arcane world populated by really interesting and intelligent (mostly academic) individuals. It doesn't hurt that I love Florence, where most of the book takes place, but I love the way Goodman has turned a setting almost into a character -- her sense of place in describing Florence and the Villa where the story happens is unsurpassed. I also love the way she ties the past into the present, drawing sometimes nuanced but mostly very clear parallels between the present day and past stories that comprise this book.
Next, I'm going to her website to find out who wrote the sonnets that appear to be written by Shakespear's alleged lover.
Next, I'm going to her website to find out who wrote the sonnets that appear to be written by Shakespear's alleged lover.
September 17, 2010
Not one of her best, I must say. While I loved Carol's first three books, this one was just a bit too "coincidental" for me. The Prof who is dating the college President and who also had an young love-affair with an Italian professor who coincidentally lives at the Villa in Italy used by the College. Young student gets killed in USA, Prof and President go to villa to help with a movie written by killed student only to get involved in intrigue over what exactly happened to killed student...suicide or murder. Other woman gets killed while in Italy both are related. Prof finds lots of clues at villa to help her piece together not only what happened to the student and the other woman, but also the life of Shakespeare's "dark lady" who lived at same villa (coincidentally) in 16th century. hmmmm, didn't hold my attention as well as some of her others. Take a chance if you're looking for something light and not too challenging.
October 25, 2010
Another good one by Carol Goodman with descriptive settings that transport me to Italy. In this one, a Literature professor at a small New York College who is also a scholar of Shakespeare's sonnets gets embroiled in a mystery that takes her to a villa in Tuscany to hunt for (possibly hidden) sonnets written by a woman who lived in the villa back in Shakespeare's day, possibly his lover, to lure him to visit her there in Italy. (There is no evidence Shakespeare ever went to Italy, but there's no evidence he didn't, either, and many of his most famous plays are set there.) The Lit professor had an affair twenty years ealier with the man who currently lives at the villa back when she was an exchange student. Her current boyfriend is the president of the College and the reader knows he's a jerk even if the professor doesn't! Update - I enjoyed this book to the end. Not the most spectacularly surprising ending I've ever read, but the rest of the book makes up for it.
June 21, 2012
Rose teaches Renaissance poetry to her students, one in particular, Robin Weiss embraces it with a passion. He has come back from La Civetta a villa in Tuscany where he has made a short movie. On the night the movie is shown, Robin apparently commits suicide by jumping off a building. Rose has been asked to travel to La Civetta, a place she hasn't been to in twenty years after an affair with a married man ended badly. Robin had written a screenplay which featured a love affair between Shakespeare and Ginevra de Laura, who he had proposed was Sakepeare's dark lady. Rose is asked to work on the script and find any connections between the two. She is not convinced that Robin's death is a suicide and she plans to find out why someone would want him dead. What she finds out is truly shocking.
I quite enjoyed this book. The plot is interesting, the dialogue is good and all in all it was well done. Three and a half stars.
I quite enjoyed this book. The plot is interesting, the dialogue is good and all in all it was well done. Three and a half stars.
January 29, 2014
3.5 stars.
I enjoyed this book. It was an entertaining, light read that kept me turning the pages. I was a bit apprehensive at first as I found the dialogue and storyline in the first few chapters lacking direction, however as soon as the setting shifted from New York to Florence, my attention was captured. Florence is my favourite city and I love reading about it, whether the author be writing fact or fiction. I loved Carol Goodman's descriptions of Firenze, so very accurate and really brought the story alive. I think her descriptive writing is what made this book an enjoyable one for me to read.
I think at times the plot got a bit lost and I had to back-track a couple of times to check certain characters' relationships to one another, but aside from this The Sonnet Lover is an intriguing story that would be enjoyed by most who love a bit of a mystery/love story with the beautiful backdrop of one of Italy's most fascinating cities.
I enjoyed this book. It was an entertaining, light read that kept me turning the pages. I was a bit apprehensive at first as I found the dialogue and storyline in the first few chapters lacking direction, however as soon as the setting shifted from New York to Florence, my attention was captured. Florence is my favourite city and I love reading about it, whether the author be writing fact or fiction. I loved Carol Goodman's descriptions of Firenze, so very accurate and really brought the story alive. I think her descriptive writing is what made this book an enjoyable one for me to read.
I think at times the plot got a bit lost and I had to back-track a couple of times to check certain characters' relationships to one another, but aside from this The Sonnet Lover is an intriguing story that would be enjoyed by most who love a bit of a mystery/love story with the beautiful backdrop of one of Italy's most fascinating cities.
February 8, 2015
This was a deliciously lovely book about a Professor of Renaissance Poetry, which takes place both in New York and in Florence, Italy. I loved the story development and the descriptions of places we've been in Florence, as well as oft quoted sonnets throughout the book, with many reference to Shakespeare. The group of academics staying at a Villa in Florence was diverse and a main thrust was trying to prove via lost sonnets, that Shakespeare had actually lived in Italy for a time. Much of the the history that unfolded was in the 1500's and enormously interesting. This was a love story, a rekindling of that love story after 20 years, a mystery, a murder and all tied up in sateen bows at the end. I would like to read more from this author, as it seems she has several written in this vein. It is interesting to see other reviews from 2 to 5, so I guess we're all over the place with this one.
August 8, 2011
Okay -- I have some minor quibbles and at least a couple that are more than minor but I'm ignoring those -- all of them . Why? First, because everything of Goodman's I'd read previously has delighted me at one or more levels. Second, there are portions of this which sing to me -- of many and various small "obsessions" which I love to encounter in my reading. And -- when reading suspense -- it is impressive to me that she can hold onto the high pitch to the very end as she does. And then there are the sonnets and the supposed missing years of Shakespeare and the Dark Lady of some of his sonnets and any story which entangles itself so believably in a mystery of great writing and writers (and who more than the Bard) is right up my alley. then there is Italy and things Italian as character and background and --- well, it's just all good in my opinion.
May 14, 2008
Poetry and murder don't always go together, but in this novel they combine to tell an intriguing tale.
The story is set around a number of scholars, both in the US and Italy, trying to find the true identity of Shakespeare's Dark Lady. A brilliant student makes a film that hints at his having found her identity and her poetry, but he
dies in a tragic accident (or was it?) before anyone can question him. Some clues he leaves behind lead the protagonist,his former professor Rose Asher, to a villa in Italy--and into more murders, lies and mysteries.
Well written with a firm grasp of Shakespearean history as well as what it takes to keep a reader on the edge of their
seat, this book is definitely a worthwhile read.
The story is set around a number of scholars, both in the US and Italy, trying to find the true identity of Shakespeare's Dark Lady. A brilliant student makes a film that hints at his having found her identity and her poetry, but he
dies in a tragic accident (or was it?) before anyone can question him. Some clues he leaves behind lead the protagonist,his former professor Rose Asher, to a villa in Italy--and into more murders, lies and mysteries.
Well written with a firm grasp of Shakespearean history as well as what it takes to keep a reader on the edge of their
seat, this book is definitely a worthwhile read.
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November 3, 2015Just finished reading this book for the second time and I am upgrading my stars. The end is still a little quick and contrived, but I think it is my favorite of all her books. This and the Ghost Orchid are simply fantastic, moody reads.
Reading a book by Carol Goodman is like wraping yourself in your favorite afghan on a cold day. Her writing draws you in and keeps you reading. I listened to the Sonnet Lover on CD and the narrator recreated Goodman's world in a positive and believeable way. Goodman creates a real world with just a bit of the supernatural, but, as with the Seduction of Water, the end seems a bit contrived. It was better, but still a little less satisfying than the set up. Even so. Her works are worth reading just to see how she writes.
Reading a book by Carol Goodman is like wraping yourself in your favorite afghan on a cold day. Her writing draws you in and keeps you reading. I listened to the Sonnet Lover on CD and the narrator recreated Goodman's world in a positive and believeable way. Goodman creates a real world with just a bit of the supernatural, but, as with the Seduction of Water, the end seems a bit contrived. It was better, but still a little less satisfying than the set up. Even so. Her works are worth reading just to see how she writes.
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