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On a rainy morning, not long after the funeral of his mother, Commissario Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello respond to a 911 call reporting a body floating near the steps in one of Venice's side canals. Reaching down to pull it out, Brunetti's wrist is caught by the silkiness of golden hair, and he sees a small foot-together he and Vianello lift a dead girl from the water. But, inconceivably, no one has reported a missing child, nor the theft of the gold jewelry that she carries. So Brunetti is drawn into a search not only for the cause of her death, but also for her identity, her family, and for the secrets that people will keep in order to protect their children-be they innocent or guilty. The investigation takes Brunetti from the canals and palazzos of Venice to a Gypsy encampment on the mainland, through quicksands of connections and relationships both known and concealed, as he struggles with both institutional prejudice and entrenched criminality to try to unravel the fate of the dead child.… (more)
User reviews
The series revolves around the work of Police Commissario Brunetti, his various side-kicks, his pompous boss and the ingenuous Signorina Elettra.
'The Girl of His Dreams'
As with the others in this series, Donna Leon paints a vivid and loving picture of Venice; the storylines are fairly engaging and the cast of characters are interesting.
However, and perhaps this is my fault for reading four of these books in quick succession, the plots are rather on the thin side; the complexities of real life are missing, people and situations seem at times one-dimensional. Brunetti's personal life appears a little too perfect to ring true - wonderful, if at times amusingly adolescent children; beautiful, intelligent, astute wife who not only cooks exquisite suppers but who is the daughter of a well-heeled, well-connected palazzo-owning Venetian. Even his mother-in-law is perfect!
My main puzzle with these books may seem a little trivial but how are we to believe in a character such as Brunetti who drinks so much alcahol - two or three glasses of wine at lunchtime, the best part of a bottle at supper, followed by glasses of grappa? I am amused he can walk in a straight line, let alone solve crimes!
Another enjoyable, thoughtful story with Commissario Brunetti and the solid cast of characters that people his Venice. This story touched on political correctness, prejudices to stereotypes and our belief in the inviolable state
I find that I now read the novels as much to find out about the progress of the Brunetti family and friends as to the mystery in the novel.
Very enjoyable.
In the midst of his investigations, he's called out because someone's found a body in the water. The body is that of a young girl, drowned. The coroner, in autopsy, discovers a watch and a wedding ring hidden in the girl's person. They eventually manage to identify her as a gypsy child who apparently burgled a house before she fell or was pushed into the river.
This girl haunts Brunetti and he's at his best trying to find the murderer, even if clues as to why or how she ended up in the river aren't forthcoming, the family who were burgled raises his hackles, and her Romany family don't want to talk to him.
One of the things I like about this series is watching Brunetti move among the darkness of human nature and find his balance in the light and love of his family.
The Girl of His Dreams is no exception to this overall pattern with the gypsies ("these days we're meant to call them Rom") acting as the disenfranchised underclass this time around. It feels to me as if there's a lot less detective work and a lot more social commentary than there were in the early books of the series - it's a full hundred pages before a body is found and the main investigation begins and it feels as if there are still a number of loose ends when the book comes to an end. It also felt as if the difference between Brunetti's home life and the twilight world in which he operates was being so strongly contrasted that it made his family time seem impossibly perfect.
Despite these misgivings, I greatly enjoyed the book. The main reason for this is that Brunetti isn't really the main star of the story - the city of Venice is. Donna Leon is remarkably skilled at bringing the colour and vibrance of the city to life with a surprising economy of words. Few writers can evoke a location as vividly as she does Venice, and there are few better locations to inhabit, even if it's only for the duration of a short novel.
Not the paciest of books, but food for thought.
The story opens on the funeral of Brunetti’s mother, at last released from the madness of dementia. Giving the blessing at the graveside is an old boyhood acquaintance of Bruneti and his brother, Sergio, Padre Antonin Scallon. In the
While on this purely personal investigation, Brunetti and Vianello recover from the Grand Canal the body of a 10 year old girl who turns out to be one of the Rom, as the Gypsies are now to be called in the latest sensitivity edicts from the Italian government in general, and Patta in particular. The girl is in possession of what are clearly stolen goods. Brunetti and Vianello carry out the investigation, which seems straightforward, but the girl’s death haunts Brunetti.
This latest of her published books--#18 will be released in April--continues and strengthens a change in Leon’s writing that she seems to have started with the previous book, Suffer the Little Children. Up until that time, Leon wrote (with one glaring exception) outstanding but very straightforward police procedurals. Whether as part of the plot or the way she wove daily Venetian life into her stories, there were themes that always stood out, the most prominent of which was the omnipresent government corruption that penetrates every aspect of Venetian life. She almost always incorporated some theme of social justice into her plots as well.
In this book, even more than Suffer the Little Children, all that is practically nonexistent. The only theme she can say to bring out, and that briefly, is the Mafia, who were brought back into power by the US after World War II to counteract “international Communism,” in another move of monumental stupidity on the part of the US. But that makes just a brief appearance and is a sidelight.
In almost all of her books, the excomunitari--illegal immigrants--are present to some degree or another and even form the matrix of some of her plots. Here, the Rom and their culture are integral to the story.
There are two aspects to this book that are really striking. One is the frustration and despair that Brunetti and Vianello feel in trying to carry out their jobs decently. Given that Leon is writing realistically about Venice, that has always been an undercurrent, but in this book i is very pronounced. You wonder how Brunetti can continue.
The other aspect is that Leon, starting with her previous book and continuing very strongly in this one, has moved away from an easily classifiable genre--police procedural--into what is for her uncharted territory--a more ambiguous, much more subtle story in which she seems to be taking on more profound questions than her usual ones of corruption, environmental crimes, and the like. Now she seems to be trying to examine not just the impact on society but where Venetian society itself is heading. The result is far more of a literary endeavor than it is a crime story. Indeed, crime is the least important element in the book.
In one of her books, Brunetti, an atheist, reflects that while he does not agree at all with the Catholic Church and dislikes the power it wields, he is afraid of what would replace it should Christianity just simply die out. Since I have had exactly the same reaction, it struck me strongly at the time; I was reminded of that brief segment while reading this book.
The Girl of His Dreams has all of the standard Leon strengths; in particular her wry sense of humor is back, which had been missing from some of her previous works. While Paola plays a part, she and the family are not so prominent in this book as in some others. Instead Vianello is given his biggest role; he has clearly become a friend and not just a highly valued colleague.
There really is no denouement to the story--but the end is perfect.
A major and ambitious striking out from the kind of story that won her international fame in the crime genre, this is a far more serious, more thought-provoking book. Highly recommended.
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Strong read, good pacing and characterizations.
While investigating this matter, the body of a young girl is found floating in the canal. The victim of drowning. How did she get there? Why? Who is she and why is there no report for a missing girl? As this mystery unravels the threads lead to the Gypsy or Romney community. A tight knit and closed community that is an outcast to the rest of the Venetian world. Brunetti must gain access to them for information regarding the girl and the reason for what has happened.
Written with a mellow pace, yet with a strong draw to find out why and how. Life in Venice is not quick moving or clear cut. There are little rituals and customs that must be observed while investigating, in order to get the information needed to solve the case. After all, the majority of transportation is via water or on foot.
I am really enjoying this series. Donna Leon paints an interesting and varied image of Venice and its people.
The book opens with the funeral of Brunetti’s mother. His brother asked a friend whom they had known from childhood, Antonin Scallon, to
Brunetti has barely started to work on that case when, responding to a call, finds the body of a young girl floating in the canal. The girl has no identification but does have some jewelry hidden on her. There have been no reports of a missing girl. As a result of their investigation, Brunetti is able to determine where the child lived, who she is, and how she probably ended up in the canal.
The book discusses a lot about the girl’s community, how they live, and why they don’t trust the police.
The main characters are familiar from the other books in the series and shows how Brunetti is able to accomplish what he wants to by using psychology on his boss, the Vice-Questore Patta with the help of Patta’s accommodating and connected secretary, Signorina Elettra. Criticisms of the political hierarchy, the Catholic Church, and of American attitudes run throughout the book. As is true for many of Donna Leon’s Brunetti series, the ending is not what readers expect but it is realistic for the situations.
The book includes a map of Venice which marks the many of the locations mentioned.
As always, low key, well-written, with wit and philosophy included
The book tours
It is not noir. If you want nasty action, go Elroy. Brunetti is fire-side reading with a glass of good wine. I see enough nasty action going on in the world today, so I don't mind a timeout with Brunetti and his Venice.