The Rossetti Letter – Christi Phillips
Claire Donovan is a Harvard graduate student finishing her dissertation about an obscure the 17th-century Venetian courtesan, Alessandra Rossetti, who alerted the authorities to an attack against the city in a letter known as “The Rossetti Letter.”
However, Claire discovers a historian writing a book on her exact topic is presenting a lecture on his book at a conference in Venice the following week. Distraught that the publishing of this book could potentially make her little researched Rossetti-dissertation topic unoriginal, Claire tries to work out a way to get to Venice to hear the lecture.
Despite not having the funds to go to Venice, Claire's bestfriend Meredith comes up with a plan. One of the student's parents at Meredith's private boarding school he is going on their honeymoon and is willing to pay for Claire's trip to Venice so she can attend the conference, if she takes and chaperones, his 14-year-old daughter, Gwen.
As one friend who has been to Venice pointed out to me, Phillips does a really well job of describing the city so the reader can envision the setting. And what a pretty setting it is...
Phillips goes back and forth through the book, telling both the story of Claire and Gwen in the present time, and that of the 17th-century Venetian courtesan, Alessandra Rossetti. For a book partially about the life of a courtesan, discussion about sex is both tame and surprisingly rare and what little there is either is mentioned in passing or barely rises to the level of what I’d consider PG-13.
At times, the story can run a bit predictable. For example, despite the fact that Claire hasn't had a date in two years and is alluded to be a casually, graduate student-like plain-Jane dresser in the US, but as soon as Claire gets to Italy, almost every man is flirting and attracted to her. Claire also can be inconsistent at times: she desperately needs to finish her dissertation for school, but seems easily persuaded to venture out with Clare to go shopping or out to dinner with a handsome man, despite the dire need to use the rare books on her dissertation topic found in Venice.
Gwen, the fourteen-year-old charge who attends a prestigious private boarding school who acts a bit younger than any fourteen-year-old I knew growing up. Despite her expensive education, when Claire, upset after an encounter with a British tourist, makes an offhand comment to Gwen that all of Britain would be speaking German if it wasn't for the United States, Gwen doesn’t get the reference to World War II. To make matters worse, when Gwen doesn’t get it, Claire says “because of the war, of course” to which Gwen responds “There was a war? What war?” Maybe it’s just me, but 1) that joke a bit stale and 2) shouldn’t a fourteen-year-old have gotten that reference, or at least be able to figure it out even if she hates history!
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| "What war?" Aparnetly they dont' teach 20th Century history like they used to in expensive, American bording schools..... *head desk* |
The chapters of the book set in 17th century Venice and centering on the tale of Alessandra Rossetti at times were actually the most suspenseful and interesting parts of the book and Phillips is able to paint a picture of what the city must have looked like both then and in the present. I found it a drawback when, after assuming that Rossetti and the majority of the other characters in the 17th-century flashback were historical figures, to find out that Alessandra Rossetti and a large number of other characters including the important Rossetti Letter, were all fabrications. I probably wouldn’t have been so disappointed in this revelation had Phillips not specifically included these people at the beginning of the novel as a “List of Historical Characters." "Historical" to me would be people who actually existed (or are believed to have existed) in history, not people and situations the author apparently created specifically for the plot. Admittedly, I may be reading a bit more into it than was Phillips intended and most readers probably wouldn't really care.
The byline on the cover of this book reads “a novel of seventeenth-century Venice and a modern woman’s search for a courtesan’s secret history,” and I was thinking something possibly something around the lines of a Dan Brown or Steve Berry mystery with a strong female protagonist Possibly because of this, I felt the present-day story with Claire and Gwen was missing suspense at times. There was some suspense as to whether she'd find the information she'd need to complete her thesis, but in the end that just didn't feel like enough for me.
Although with some minor problems I had with the book, The Rossetti Letter is worth the read for someone interested in historical fiction or mysteries. It's not perfect, but it is enjoyable if you find yourself wanting a quick-read where you won’t have to over think things and just want to try getting lost in the story. For the sheer enjoyment, this was really close to a 4 rating. A sequel, The Devlin Diary was published in 2009 and based on my feelings towards Rossetti, I’ll give the sequel a read, too.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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2 comments:
Ya, you would think it should go without saying that a historical character is a real historical character! Even though you had a few problems with this one it still sounds interesting--I like historical fiction and a little bit of suspense at that. And Venice? Could there be a better setting??
The interplay between Gwen and Claire didn't bother me nearly as much as it did you. I thought the story was pretty well developed and while the initial back and forth between present day Italy and the 17th Century was exhausting at first, I eventually found it to be an excellent way to keep both plot lines in my mind simultaneously. I am excited to read Devlin Diary soon.
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