In This World of Books..: Blog Tour: The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli

Friday, May 23, 2014

Blog Tour: The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli

Welcome to my stop on The Gondola Maker Blog Tour

hosted by iRead Book Tours.

Displaying The Gondola Maker Book Cover.jpg

Blurb:

In 16th-century Venice, the heir to a family boatyard rejects his destiny but is drawn to restore an old gondola with the dream of taking a girl for a ride.

Venice, 1581
Luca Vianello is the heir to the city’s most esteemed gondola-making family. But when an accidental tragedy strikes the boatyard, Luca believes his true calling lies elsewhere. Readers will appreciate the authentic details of gondola craftsmanship along with a captivating tale of artisanal tradition and family bonds set in one of the world’s most magnificent settings: Renaissance Venice.

Cindy's Thoughts:

I enjoy historical fiction. It's fun to read and imagine what it's like back then. There are so many different lives. You can either be a poor farmer or a wealthy merchant. You can even be the king. Life is a lot different back then and it's interesting to see the differences compared to now. So I chose to read The Gondola Maker.

The main character, Luca Vianello, is a young man creating gondolas. His father is very strict and firm. His mother ends up dying. Luca finds himself not being able to be happy anymore, working for his father and continuing his family legend. One day, he accidentally sets the gondola courtyard to fire. It didn't end well. Luca believes that he is no longer needed in the gondola making business. He wants to do something else. He wants to see a different view of life.

So he does. He starts working as a rower for gondolas. And soon, he was hired to be a famous artist's personal rower. The salary was not too high, not too low. Luca also finds a girl he likes. It's all fine. He's living the life he wanted. But his family isn't with him.

This book talks about a young man's adventure in Venice, learning how to listen to his heart and how to truly care about someone.

This is a great book for readers who like historical fiction. There is a little bit of romance and family bonds.

The Rating: (1-10): 7.5

Author Bio:

Laura Morelli earned a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University, where she was a Bass Writing Fellow and an Andrew W. Mellon Doctoral Fellow. She has taught college art history in the U.S. and at Trinity College in Rome. She is the creator of the authentic guidebook series that includes Made in Italy, Made in France, and Made in the Southwest, published by Rizzoli. Laura is a frequent contributor to National Geographic Traveler and other national magazines and newspapers. A native of coastal Georgia, she is married and is busy raising four children. The Gondola Maker is her first work of fiction.

Book Trailer: