Vivaldi’s Vir­gins is his­tor­i­cal fic­tion at its most allur­ing. Through the com­pelling voice of Anna Maria dal Vio­lin, a foundling and extra­or­di­nary vio­lin­ist, mem­ber of Vivaldi’s famous La Pieta orphan­age play­ers, we vir­tu­al­ly live in Venice, dur­ing the deca­dent but cul­tur­al­ly thrilling 18th century. 

At the heart of the sto­ry is a mys­tery of parent­age, whose answer lies in a heavy, bejew­eled gold lock­et and miss­ing key. We read of musi­cians, kings, priests, nuns, Jews, artists, and chil­dren, liv­ing in clois­tered con­vents, fabled palaces, and the Jew­ish ghet­to, all trav­el­ing through the canals of Venice, masked and cloaked, car­ry­ing long kept secrets. 

There is the ever-present sto­ry of per­se­cut­ed Jews. The Jew­ish ghet­to is always dev­as­tat­ing, but the strug­gle for sur­vival and the quest for even the tini­est bit of beau­ty is the real­i­ty we are remind­ed of with each tale. 

Vivaldi’s Vir­gins is extreme­ly well researched, with a fas­ci­nat­ing his­tor­i­cal note fill­ing in details of Vivaldi’s work, many of the peo­ple in the nov­el, and the actu­al ospedali de Pieta. Bib­li­og­ra­phy, discog­ra­phy, glos­sary, his­tor­i­cal note.