Venice for Lovers

Looking for a good romantic story quite unlike those you've read and heard before? Here it is. Venice for Lovers reveals not only the love shared by a man and woman but also their mutual love for a place, one of the world's most beautiful, storied cities - Venice. Where better to evoke feelings of love and passion? Working together (to my knowledge for the first time) noted novelist Louis Begley and his biographer wife, Anka Muhlstein, have penned a meritorious story. Add to this a stunning, finely nuanced reading by Malcolm Hillgartner and the result is an audiobook to dream on. For the past 30 years Begley and his wife have spent their summers in Venice. They go there to write and have pretty much established a rigorous writing schedule for themselves. For one thing, they avoid social occasions. Thus, when she describes Venice it is much as seen through the eyes of the owners of restaurants where they repeatedly dine. Few listeners will forget Ernesto and his memories of the dreadful 1966 flood. When it is Begley's turn he offers Venice through the eyes of a young man who comes to the city hoping to win an older woman with whom he has fallen in love. She spurns him but as it often is with youth there is more for him to discover. Those who have been to Venice will welcome this opportunity to revisit it, and those who have not may well begin packing their bags. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke