By the Grand Canal

By: William Riviere

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the aftermath of the First World War, Hugh Thurne, a British diplomat involved in the peace negotiations, seeks solace in his rented palazzo in Venice rather than returning to his wife and the charade of his marriage in London. Although profoundly disturbed about the long-term prospects for peace, he has faith in the city's power to raise his spirits. Hugh eagerly looks forward to visits with his old friends Giocomo and Valentina Venier in their dilapidated palazzo by the Grand Canal, renewing his affair with a young opera singer, Emanuela, and to the arrival of Violet Mancroft, the widow of his best friend lost in the war. What he does not anticipate is the shadow lying over the Venier family's future. Nor has he reckoned with the vagaries of his own heart.

©2004 William Riviere (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"He is a specialist in haunting seascapes, creating a subtle and gripping story." (Evening Standard, London)
"[William Riviere] has a talent for lyrical descriptions of everyday events, as well as of the marvelous set pieces Venice can provide. He...probes every nook of his characters' being....His creations are fragile objects but a delight to observe." (Times Literary Supplement)