About Face by Donna Leon is our next book selection. The discussion will take place on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 P.M. MST. Mark it on your calendars and join us for a chat about Ms. Leon's newest Brunetti mystery!
Because it is a brand new book, we might have to consider borrowing it from the local library, because buying it will mean hardcover costs right now. I'm going to order mine tomorrow!
For those of you who have never read any of Leon's books, here's a little peek at the characters of her books: Commissario Guido Brunetti is a local police inspector who is featured in each of Donna Leon's books. He's married to Paolo, a professor at the University of Venice. They have two great kids, Raffi and Chiara.
Guido works at the police headqarters at the Questura, under the watchful eye of his superior, Vice-Questora Patta. Signorina Elettra is his secretary, and has the amazing ability to contact friends in high places to scout out intricate computer information which seems to be impossible to acquire...but not for her! She colour-co-ordinates her wardrobe to the lavish bouquets of flowers that she keeps on her desk in her area of the office...very interesting woman!
Here's a list of places to visit when you are in Venice! These are the locations for various characters and crimes in Leon's books.
Now, a little about her newest novel, About Face. "In this story Donna Leon attacks the disposal of toxic waste. This is always going to be a problem in a city built on water but here we get glimpses of how this problem affects the rest of the country. As ever Brunetti's wife, Paola, plays a substantial part behind the scenes making her husband question his principles. The usual characters are here ~ Signorina Elettra with her knowledge of the back way in to all computer systems; Vice Questore Patta who is almost more concerned with his own position than the detection of crime, and there are all Brunetti's usual police colleagues as well as a member of the Carabineiri who needs Brunetti's help." ~ Damaskcat
So, call your local library, reserve a copy of About Face by Donna Leon and join us for a book chat on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 P.M. MST.!
"Not one to be shy about addresses pertinent, socially significant issues, Leon, through Brunetti, has long cited the discrepancies in Italian society, especially in Venice, a city in which she lives and, in her words, loves. This affection is clearly shown in her works, of course, but she does fire both barrels at her targets." ~ Bill J. Hobbs Brenda
A few more interesting things about Donna Leon's writing... Here is a list of her books: 1. Death At La Fenice (1992) 2. Death in a Strange Country (1993) 3. The Anonymous Venetian (1994)(aka Dressed for Death) 4. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) (aka Death And Judgment) 5. Acqua Alta (1996) (aka Death in High Water) 6. The Death of Faith (1997) (aka Quietly in Their Sleep) 7. A Noble Radiance (1997) 8. Fatal Remedies (1999) 9. Friends in High Places (2000) 10.A Sea of Troubles (2001) 11.Wilful Behaviour (2002) 12.Uniform Justice (2003) 13.Doctored Evidence (2004) 14.Blood from a Stone (2005) 15.Through a Glass Darkly (2006) 16.Suffer the Little Children (2007) 17.The Girl of His Dreams (2008) 18.About Face (2009)
Do you need to read them in order? No, but it might be a cool thing to do. I did that, and I liked being able to see the development of the characters, to watch the Brunetti kids growing up and learn about Paolo's parents and Guido's not-so-nice boss.
The other thing I really love about her books is that there is a social issue as the theme of each book that is a real issue in the Venice area. I learned to be more tolerant of the street vendors who sell sunglasses and faux-designer purses in the calles of Venice by reading about their struggle to survive in the city in Blood From a Stone. What a difficult life they have. Reading this book made me think about what these people go through trying to make a living to support their families back in the Sudan, in Africa.
I've ordered my copy of About Face from our extension library. I can hardly wait to begin reading her newest novel!
“I have no memory for what happens in what books. I don't know when I might remember a scene, but beats me what book it's in because there are 18 of them now.” ~ Donna Leon Brenda
My book is on the way! I have confirmation from my library that About Face is in transit! Another Donna Leon book to enjoy. How totally cool is that? AND, our CRC Book Club is also going to read it and chat about it. I'm looking forward to this so much.
Here are a few interesting bits and pieces about Leon's books that might interest you: ~ Guido Brunetti's wife, Paolo, is a hereditary contessa from one of the oldest Venetian families. She is a professore, teaching English language.
~ Each book takes a current issue in Venice, looks at it under a microscope and places a crime in the context of the current issue of the city.
~ "Venice's beloved opera house went up in smoke in 1996. All through that cold January night, Leon watched La Fenice burn from her window. Leon recalls, "There was this bright red glow in the sky. And I didn't know then what it was. I walked over and people started saying, 'E La Fenice che bruccia.' And who could believe that the theater was burning. By 6 o'clock in the morning it was gone." It was arson. But what exactly happened in the theater that inspired Leon's first mystery is itself a mystery. There are official theories, of course. But in Italy, Donna Leon has learned, they can be as suspect as the crimes! "It's not that I don't trust the official story, I just don't trust any story, whether it's official or unofficial. That's because of experience; at a certain time in a person's life, I think, hope can no longer spring eternal. You just have to face facts and say, this is a fallen world and people lie and truth gets distorted and that's the way it is and what's for dinner. Maybe I have been in Italy too long." ~ Donna Leon
~ "Her debut as a crime fiction writer began as a joke: talking in a dressing room in Venice’s opera-house La Fenice after a performance, Donna and a singer friend were vilifying a particular German conductor. From the thought, ‘Why don’t we kill him?’ and the discussion of when, where and how, the idea for Death at La Fenice took shape, and was completed over the next four months." ~ Penguin.com
“It’s a mark of this elegant and cunning writer that not even the most wonderful city on earth upstages her characters and plots. With her usual skilful plotting and perfectly judged pace, Leon teases out a tangled drama of institutional sleaze, loan-sharking and drug abuse. I’ve always thought I couldn’t love anyone who didn’t love Venice, and now I don’t think I could really understand a crime fan who didn’t love Donna Leon.” ~ Scotland on Sunday Brenda
Here's a photo of the fire that destroyed La Fenice, the historic Venetian opera house. Photo Credit - Nutzkie2001
About Face by Donna Leon...the next book for Concentric Reading Circle Book Club on Slowtrav...have you read it yet? Are you going to read it?
I'd love it if you'd stop by on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 P.M. in the Gold Star Chat Room and have a cuppa tea with us while we talk about this new book of Ms. Leon's.
Here are a few cool things: There'll be a draw for a surprise gift at the beginning of the chat, so don't be late! I'll enter the names of everyone who is in chat when we start the discussion! The person whose name is drawn will be given something wonderful. Don't be late, or you'll miss your chance to win!
Donna is an American of Irish/Spanish heritage. She first traveled to Italy in 1965 and returned regularly over the next 10 years or so while teaching in the U.S., Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia. Donna finally chose to move to Venice and has lived in this glorious city for the past twenty-plus years.
Until recently, Ms. Leon was the crime reviewer for the Sunday Times. She also is an opera expert and has written the libretto for a comic opera. Donna has set up her own opera company, Il Complesso Barocco. Very interesting, some great photos!
Here's a quote from Donna Leon, about Uniform Justice: " I have always had a particular antagonism for the military, and I just...no, no, no... I’m trying to remember...I had an idea for the opening scene, the kid hanging in the shower looking like a bat. I just got taken with the idea that it was a bat, and then everything followed. If he was a military student he probably came from a certain class, but this kid didn’t, but most of the other students in the military academy do. There has been a lot of suspicious, maybe hazing, deaths in the last couple of years, in the last five or six years. There was a case in the northwest, I don’t remember where. I think two cadets were killed and then there was the famous case of the paratroopers who were in a helicopter in Bosnia. They were, I think, 100 meters above the ground and the two people that jumped were from a different unit or a different branch of the service than the people in control of the helicopter, they were told to jump when they were at 100 meters so some hanky panky as going on there. Anyway this book just ran away from itself because of the military business." Brenda
I thought that Donna Leon fans might enjoy this photo. In almost every book in the series, Brunetti goes to his office window and looks out at the church of San Lorenzo which has been mysteriously closed and (supposedly) under restoration for many decades. Here's the church!
Thank you, Annie! That's so totally cool. I had no idea what Bruno actually was looking at when he's contemplating and ruminating. Now I know!
So, do you have a photo of the little bar down the street where he often stops for an espresso and a dolci? The calle where he and Paolo live?
This is what I love about Ms. Leon's novels...they become like friends that I've seen before, someplace in time. I think of her stories as Hardy Boys for grownups! And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible.
"Dr. Toni Sepeda, Professor of Literature and Art History for 15 years in Northern Italy for the University of Maryland, offers individual or group tours lasting 1-2 hours, by appointment Thursday through Sundays. She is the only lecturer authorized by Donna Leon to conduct events in Brunetti’s Venice." ~ Donna Leon's website Brenda
I'll probably have to back our of the CRC chat Sunday. My pre-ordered book has still not appeared, and I, hopefully, leave Monday for Santa Barbara for a girlfriends' trip. Keep notes for me!
My book's not here, either! I have been waiting, checking daily with the library and keeping my fingers crossed. Still, no book.
So, let's go ahead with book chat tomorrow at 2:00 P.M. MST in the Gold Star Chat Room. I'll count on everyone else for the storyline and then read the book when it finally arrives!
Here are a few interesting things about Donna Leon's books: ~ A unique feature of Commissario Brunetti is that he comes home to a family he values above all else. Most cops in police stories seem to be loners, with broken marriages or at the very least, unhappy ones.
~ Ms. Leon has written a book every year since 1992, with the exception of 1998, for a total of 18 novels that are based in the glorious city of Venice.
~ Leon's books have brought her fame and wealth, but she insists they'll never be translated in Italy during her lifetime. "I do not take any pleasure whatsoever in being a famous person," she says. "The tenor of my life would change if these books were translated into Italian, because I'm completely anonymous here."
~ Where did our favorite character, Signorina Elletra, come from? "She's everyone’s favorite. She came about one day a long time ago. I forget when she entered, the 3rd or 4th book. Really, that long ago. I was writing and someone knocked on Brunetti’s door and I didn’t have a clue who it could be or what it could be. So I went for a long walk, probably down to Sant Elena and I came back and turned on the computer and by God, Signorina Elettra walked in, and Thank God for the day that she did."
~ When asked if she invented the Brunetti house, Ms. Leon replied, "No, that house is there because a friend of mine lives on the top floor. It’s easy to find. You walk from Rialto towards San Polo and on your right is Biancat Florist, a little bit after Sant’Aponal. And on the right you’ll see Biancat Florist with lots of white roses usually in the window. If you walk past Biancat and you go left, there’s a narrow calle that finishes in a building. That’s the building and the top floor cannot be seen because the wall of the building is there so as not to be visible from the ground. The whole thing was built illegally in the 1940s." Too funny! A commissario lives in an illegally-built house!
See you tomorrow in the Gold Star Chat Room at 2:00 P.M. MST!
"In About Face, Leon returns to one of her signature subjects: the environment, which has reached a crisis in Italy. Incinerators across the south of Italy are at full capacity, burning who-knows-what and releasing unacceptable levels of dangerous air pollutants, while in Naples, enormous garbage piles grow in the streets. In Venice, with the polluted waters of the canals and a major chemical complex across the lagoon, the issue is never far from the fore.
Environmental concerns become significant in Brunetti's work when an investigator from the Carabiniere, looking into the illegal hauling of garbage, asks for a favor. But the investigator is not the only one with a special request. His father-in-law needs help and a mysterious woman comes into the picture. Brunetti soon finds himself in the middle of an investigation into murder and corruption more dangerous than anything he's seen before." ~ Fantastic Fiction Brenda
Reminder, reminder, reminder! CRC Book Chat is today, at 2:00 P.M. MST in the Gold Star Chat Room! That's 2 hours and 40 minutes from right now!
“I have no memory for what happens in what books. I don't know when I might remember a scene, but beats me what book it's in because there are 14 of them now.” ~ Donna Leon
I just finished reading About Face and I really liked it. What I love the most about Donna Leon stories is all the interaction between the characters, it makes the story so real. And of course the references to real places in Venice that I recognize makes it very interesting. (Thanks Annie for the photo).
The story,however, left me wondering about the trash issue in Italy, particularly Naples, I wish Leon had elaborated more on that. I kind of felt that she left that side of the story hanging a bit. Maybe she is planning to continue that in her next novel, which I am waiting for either way
Thanks for letting us know what you thought of Donna Leon's newest mystery novel, Candi!
I have a question about book club. It has been a struggle for the last few months for people to have the time to meet for a book chat. I'm wondering if there is a better time and date than the one we are currently using...3rd Sunday of the month at 2:00 P.M. MST.
If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! I'm happy to make whatever changes you like.
"A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it." ~ William Styron Brenda
