The Girl of His Dreams - Softcover

Leon, Donna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099517647 ISBN 13: 9780099517641

Publisher: Arrow, 2009

Synopsis

One rainy morning Commissario Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello respond to an emergency call reporting a body floating near some steps on the Grand Canal. 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 jewellery that she carries. 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.

From the canals and palazzi of Venice to a gypsy encampment on the mainland, Brunetti struggles with institutional prejudice and entrenched criminality to try to unravel the fate of the dead child.

About this title

Review:

Donna Leon s engaging books have been the cheapest way to travel to Italy for quite some time -- and her legion of admirers know that the Venice of her protagonist Commissario Brunetti is a wonderful destination for the crime fiction lover. Leon, an American expat who now lives in la Serenissima (with such luminaries as opera singer Cecilia Bartoli as one of her friends) has gone native in no uncertain terms. Her knowledge of Brunetti s water-logged beat is transmuted into vivid and evocative narratives: the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge are often the dark passageways to another, darker Italy, where hidden (and not-so-hidden) corruption in politics and daily life is very much an everyday thing (as headlines in the papers not just in Donna Leon s books remind us on a daily basis).

The Girl of his Dreams demonstrates how much life is left in the Leon/Brunetti criminal world. A child s body is found floating near some steps on the Grand Canal it is that of a dead girl. But there have been no reports of missing children -- and the search for the identity of the youthful victim and her family takes Brunetti to many varied destinations, including a Gypsy encampment on the mainland, and (eventually), he turns up some very nasty secrets. As ever, it s not just the villains who thwart Brunetti at every turn it s the venality and clandestine nature of the establishment that hampers him, almost as a matter of course.

This is Leon on effortless form Brunetti fans need not hesitate. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

"In The Girl of His Dreams, Donna Leon is writing at her fluent best" (The Independent)

"Written in a powerful, economical style...Leon's 17th novel is one of her darkest and most reflective" (Guardian)

"Another intriguing episode in this fine series" (Sunday Telegraph)

"The Girl of his Dreams is an artful examination of family ties as well as a clear-eyed survey of the pros and cons of political correctness" (Evening Standard)

"The seventeenth title in an excellent, unflagging series...The Girl of His Dreams marks an evolution, even a quiet revolution, in Leon's storytelling" (TLS)

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0099517647
• ISBN 13: 9780099517641
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336