The Courtesan's Pirate by Nina Wachsman
Falling in Love with Venice
I couldn’t help falling in love with Venice from the first
moment I arrived, which was during Carnevale.
Emerging from the train station on a grey drizzly day in February, I was
greeted by the waving fans of masked ladies in elaborate dresses and nods from
their cloaked companions in equally exquisite masks. Meandering through the
city was like being in the masquerade scene from Phantom of the Opera; I could
almost hear the music and the words, “Masquerade… paper faces on parade…” It forced me to buy my own mask; the costumes
and masks were everywhere so I felt awkward without one.
That first taste of Venice whet my appetite for more,
especially since the first time was only a day trip from Milan, so I returned
many more times, and not just for Carnevale.
I went to art school and studied the works of the Old
Masters as well as the Modern Expressionists, which is why I visit Venice every
two years, for the Art Biennale. It’s a World’s Fair of Art, with the
opportunity for every country to display the work of its favorite artist. Most
of the artwork is exhibited at the Gardini and the Arsenale which are at the
far end of Venice, but many smaller countries, like Seychelles or Trinidad,
will have their artists displayed in old palazzos. The mirrored walls, crystal
chandeliers and mullioned windows sometimes distract from the art, but gave me
the visuals I needed to depict the palazzo of my main character Belladonna, a
powerful former courtesan who is the ‘star’ of “The Courtesan’s Pirate.”
Everyone visits the piazza San Marco, teeming with tourists
and pigeons, but the main attraction there is the Doge’s Palace. It is a great
source for stories: the long staircase, rumored to be haunted by the ghost of
the only Doge who tried to make himself a King (he was beheaded by order of the
Council of Ten). The Mouth of the Lion – an open-mouth shaped suggestion box to
register complaints or to report a neighbor’s suspicious activities to the
magistrates of the Council of Ten, the powerful men who controlled Venice.
There’s a good collection of art inside the Doge’s Palace,
including a painting by Hieronymus Bosch. One classic painting was stolen in
the 1990s by “the gentleman thief”. The thief took a tour of the dungeons, and
stayed behind until after closing, and then entered the palace through the
Bridge of Sighs and walked off with it. A bargain was struck between the local
mafia chief who hired him and the police, and the painting was returned after
the release of a Mafiose from prison.
The women of Venice Beauties series are strong-willed and
resilient, and have the wit and stamina to stand up to the dangerous men that
seek to control them. Belladonna and the rabbi’s daughter, Diana, are joined by a new beauty as they confront the
men who seek to control them in “The Courtesan’s Pirate”. Mariella is from the
island of Jamaica, the wife of Belladonna’s deceased brother, Roderigo.
Mariella is not only beautiful, but bold, resilient and talented. She
successfully leads Belladonna through a dangerous swamp to escape the Spanish
in Jamaica, and lulls the lusty pirates on Hispaniola with her guitar playing
and singing. When Belladonna returns to Venice, she brings Mariella with her,
and the newcomer soon becomes the subject of a portrait which charms a visiting
duke and embroils the two women in another complex plot. I enjoyed writing of
their adventures in the New World but eventually knew they would be drawn back
to Venice, which both they and I could never abandon.
Venice has charmed and haunted me as well as so many
writers, across so many genres. I’ve read practically every book about Venice,
and my favorites are: Daphne du Maurier’s “Don’t Look Now”, Henry James’ “The
Wings of the Dove” and a little macabre book called, “Vaporetto13” by Robert
Girardi.
What’s your favorite book about Venice? Leave it in the
comments for a chance to win “The Courtesan’s Pirate’ which was published on
September 3.
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