Currently reading
A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present
White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India
Every Eye
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain's Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Four Seasons, The: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice
This was an enjoyable read! Two of the main characters are orphaned sisters who grow up in the Pieta, which is a church orphanage in Venice. They both show musical talent--one of them becomes a singer at the church, and the other plays violin in the church orchestra. Vivaldi is one of the teachers there, and he also writes new works for the ensembles. This book was very well-researched (given the limited info available about the daily lives of the young girls at the Pieta). It was interesting to read more about Venetian society of the time, which seemed very shallow--it was quite common for the noblemen to have mistresses, and their wives to have admirers (an interesting double-standard, since the wives' admirers were not allowed to be their lovers). The stories of the two orphans and Vivaldi are woven together nicely.
