I’ve never been to Venice, but now that I’ve read this book, I seriously need to go. While I was reading, coincidentally, my friend was in Venice. She posted a lot of pictures from her amazing trip, and I definitely felt a little social media jealousy. What a beautiful city! I can only imagine what it had been like in the 1700s. We probably romanticize it more than it was, but since we weren’t there, why not? I did not know anything about the Ospedale degli Incurabili—a hospital and orphanage for children, and so it was fun to delve into that world. I find it so interesting that they taught the children there to love, appreciate, and excel at music, and it also provided funding for the hospital and orphanage. The Orphan’s Song by Lauren Kate is a masterfully written story, and I loved it!

“As befitting a book set in eighteenth century Venice, Italy, the novel spins a riveting tale of secrets kept and secrets revealed and the far-reaching consequences of both. Based on a gripping chapter in Venice’s remarkable history, The Orphan’s Song brilliantly recreates both the glamour and seedy underbelly of a city at its zenith.

Known as ‘the city of masks,’ Venice, circa 1736, is notorious for its excesses and its reputation as the place where lovers and revelers don Carnevale disguises to move secretly within society. On most days the city’s sick and orphans are the only bare faces wandering the city. Yearning to join the masked revelers are two foundlings raised within the walls of the Hospital of the Incurables, a famous house of worship that serves as both hospital and orphanage. Over centuries, its massive stone complex (still standing today) has been reinvented as a conservatory for the best singers and musicians on the continent, an ingenious plan that brings acclaim to the church and its coffers.

Among the talented foundlings are Violetta and Mino, lonely teens with big dreams who meet for the first time on an off-limits rooftop. Violinist Mino is a self-taught luthier with aspirations that reach far beyond his humble beginnings. Violetta, a gifted soprano who, despite her desire to rise to soloist in the church’s renowned choir, yearns to break free of the Incurables’ walls and embrace the unknown on the outside. Their tentative private duet—first musical, then romantic—is strictly forbidden, and the risks they take launch them on separate journeys that radically transform their lives.

Mino is determined to find the mother who abandoned him as a toddler, while Violetta steadfastly avoids entanglements and motherhood in her quest for stardom as a legendary soprano with a secret nighttime life. But both will find themselves tossed by society’s cruel unpredictability as they navigate the world and its endless seductions. Despite their separations and painful discoveries, they’ll discover that fate has more in store for them than they could ever have imagined for themselves. With its stunning plot twists and sophisticated sense of history, The Orphan’s Song blends the author’s signature fast-paced storytelling with an enchanting love story for the ages.”