The Rosetti Letter The Rosetti Letter, by Christi Phillips, is two stories in one novel. The novel begins with a graduate student, Claire Donovan, who is working diligently to finish her doctoral thesis, a chronicle of a Venetian courtesan who wrote a letter to the Venetian Court warning of a Spanish conspiracy that was about to overtake her city in the early 1600s. Claire, a young divorcee with limited funds, needs desperately to go to attend a conference in Venice to conclude her research, and strikes a deal to chaperone a teenage girl there to meet her father and soon-to-be stepmother. While her relationship with Gwen, the teenager, doesn't get off to a good start, gradually the two find common ground.

Meanwhile, the novel is following the life of Alessandra Rosetti, the courtesan at the center of Claire's thesis. Alessandra's mother died in childbirth, and her father and brother died in a shipwreck. With limited options in turbulent seventeenth century Venice, she wants nothing more than to avoid the convent. To make ends meet, she begins to work as a courtesan, after being taken under the wing of La Celestia, Venice's most established courtesan. Along the way, Alessandra is introduced to many influential men, ambassadors, senators, assassins, spies. These men have secrets about an impending plan to attack Venice and Alessandra is caught in the middle. Should she tell what she knows to save Venice? Can she do so without risking her life and the lives of many others?

Claire is in Venice anxiously searching for the same answers, and doing so against a clock. A colleague from London is trying to debunk Claire's theories for his own book deal, and Claire must prove him wrong in short order, but to do so she needs his help. Gwen proves to be a willing accomplice to obtain some documents in the possession of the colleague. Claire herself forms some interesting alliances in Venice in an effort to determine Alessandra's intentions and finish her thesis.

Alessandra has set out on a mission with an uncertain end. She knows she must alert the authorities about Spain's plan, but she knows that doing so will surely mean death to some, including herself. Caught up in a scheme set in motion by Venice's most powerful, Alessandra is the key to saving Venice, and saving Claire's career.
Review provided courtesy of Andrea Polverento [11-02-08]

More Than it Hurts You Josh and Dori Goldin are the parents of
an eight-month-old son named Zack. The novel "More Than it Hurts You" by Darin Strauss begins with his emergency hospitalization. His emergency and the conflict between his parents and the doctor who heads the pediatric unit he is admitted to provide the tension of the entire novel. The author is able to pull in marital conflicts, race relations, and financial positioning as crucial parts of the plot.

Darlene Stokes is a black woman who heads the pediatric unit at St. Joe. Zack is brought in by his mother, and the hospital resident dismisses his condition as a minor tummy upset. When Zack and his mother return in less than an hour and Dori complains that she had told the staff that Zack had bloody vomit, the child's situation is considered a serious emergency. Dr. Stokes is uncomfortable with the mother's reaction to continuing treatment, but the situation is not outside the bounds of normal. When baby Zack is brought into the hospital again, Dr. Stokes begins to consider a bizarre possibility. She suspects a very rare condition, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which a parent will harm their child to focus attention on themselves.

Although the mother and the doctor are at the center of this conflict, it is the mental and emotional turmoil suffered by Josh that receives most of the novelist's attention. His thoughts and feelings are exposed as he firsts rejoices in having such a pleasurable family life. A medical emergency involving his loved child is his first serious crisis. Then his wife (who had been a phlebotomy specialist) cautions him that the medical establishment might try to disguise the possibility of a hospital mistake by accusing the parents of poor child care. All sides of a simple conflict are thoroughly portrayed by the author to make a gripping tale. Even the dynamics of a sales launch which Josh attends are explored for the way the American psyche works. Dr. Stokes early family life and college years are detailed so the reader will understand what a driven and committed doctor she is. Every character becomes so real through the pencil of a gifted novelist. Most of all, you feel the fear which begins to grow in Josh as he begins to wonder if it is possible that all the wonderful things he believed in can be so wrong. [11-9-08]

With Violets Sometimes the most memorable way to put historical facts in perspective is to read a wonderful novel about the events. "With Violets" by Elizabeth Robards tells the story of the beginning of the French Impressionists' art movement. It describes a love affair between the artists Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet. This is the type of novel which inspires you to look up the paintings which are mentioned. My only criticism is that I wish the author would have included websites where the paintings that were mentioned could be viewed. Even the cover graphic is only a portion of a featured painting.

Berthe Morisot is a middle class Frenchwoman who has pursued painting as a hobby. She did not marry at a usual age, so she became seriously committed to her painting. She even had paintings exhibited at the Salon, which gave her the stamp of approval of the French art establishment. At the novel's beginning, Berthe and another student are copying paintings at the Louvre. A mutual acquaintance introduces them to Edouard Manet, who is a star of the Paris art world. Eventually Edouard becomes Berthe's teacher, mentor, and lover. She poses for him repeatedly. The author has used contemporary gossip and excerpts from letters to continue the pace of the romance. Berthe is portrayed as a woman determined to succeed in a man's world rather than let her work become an artistic dalliance which would be laid aside when she entered the era's typical role for women, that of a wife and mother. That was what her talented sister did.

Manet has a darker, mysterious role. Although there have allegedly been many romantic liaisons with his models, he has remained married to the frumpy Suzanne. Manet has remained with this unappealing, overweight woman and varied stories circulate about the basis of their marriage. The paternity of Suzanne's son, born prior to their marriage, was questioned by society. The story circulated that he was Manet's godson, but was there a closer relationship? Unfortunately, all these points added tension to the romance between Berthe and Edouard. Berthe had always realized that if Manet left his wife, they would be social outcasts. Her love affair is contrasted with her sister's happy marriage. Her sister, Edma, has been Berthe's companion in the art world and they had both dreamed of a more unconventional life. The contrast between Edma and Berthe illustrates the difficult decisions which Berthe made.

[11-16-08]

Unfortunately, women of a certain age often become widows. At the novel's beginning, that has happened to Alexandra. To alleviate her loneliness, she decides to travel. As a woman who has placed a high value on the natural world, she decides she wants to explore the Canadian Rockies. She joins a tour group and even though her fellow tourists are not compatible, she still enjoys the relief from boredom and the naturalistic scene so different from her life in the southwest.

The three witches had reduced their contact after each had remarried. The Christmas after her husband's death, Alexandra received a card which restored her contact with Jane. Jane had married old New England money, her husband had died, and she was ready to travel with Alexandra. Eventually, Sukie becomes the third widowed traveling companion. As they are trying to choose an appropriate destination which will fit everyone's pocketbook and physical abilities, they decide Eastwick would be an intriguing place to spend a summer. The space they decide to rent as summer quarters is a condo in Darryl Van Horne's converted mansion. This building had been so much a part of their mysterious summer, but the changes put in place by the developer make their spot in Eastwick seem almost foreign. The reactions they cause by returning to Eastwick are diverse, not unlike the ones that occur to anyone who returns to a place that had been a focus of conflict in their past.

John Updike at 76, is older than the baby boomers. His popularity can be attributed to his ability to chronicle coming life stages for a big portion of our nation's population. He knows and describes what is coming for many of us. A spellbinding novel. [11-23-08]

Playing With the Grown-ups It is extremely difficult for a young woman to establish a sense of her own identity if her mother is a very beautiful woman. Her life will be even more challenging if her mother has a glamorous career and lives her life in a generally irresponsible manner. "Playing With the Grown-ups" by Sophie Dahl focuses on the relationship which Kitty has with her erratic, but charming mother, Marina. The novel begins as a pregnant Kitty receives a phone call from her sister, Violet. Their mother has been hospitalized again and Kitty must make the journey from New York to London to help the family cope. The story line then flashes on the upbringing Kitty, Violet, and Sam weathered as they spent most of their childhood with Marina as a single mother. Life began for them in the cushioned, protected environment at Hay House. They lived there with Marina and her parents, Bestemamma and Bestepappa. This was an idyllic childhood in rural England. There was nurturing love from their two aunts, the grandparents, a nanny, and their mother was a colorful, loving figure.

Marina is an artist who is able to produce a fairly good income from her work. The difficulty for her family is that she feels she must be free and inspired. The safe world in which her children thrive is confining to Marina. She becomes involved with a Guru and suddenly decides to move her children to New York. Life for Kitty and her half-siblings in confusing at an ashram in New York state. Kitty is not sure if the Guru is a truly religious figure or another fraud which her mother has become involved with. She has already learned to recognize the enthusiasms which her mother has for anything new that inspires her. Marina is usually quickly disillusioned and goes on to the next boyfriend, dress, party, or drug.

The novel continues as a coming of age story in which Kitty has to choose if she wants to be a part of her mother's chaotic existence filled with flaky characters and those who impose on her mother's generosity. The food and drugs are lovely, but somehow Kitty realizes that real love and responsibility are valuable alternatives. The novel's author is the granddaughter of the famous children's author Roald Dahl and the actress Patricia Neal. Publicity states that the author has blurred the line between memoir and fiction.
[11-30-08]