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By the Grand Canal Audiobook
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Publisher Description
In the aftermath of the First World War, Hugh Thurne, a British diplomat involved in the peace negotiations, seeks solace in his rented palazzo in Venice rather than returning to his wife and the charade of his marriage in London. Although profoundly disturbed by the grim long-term prospects for peace, he has faith in the city’s power to raise his spirits. Hugh eagerly looks forward to visits with his old friends Giocomo and Valentina Venier in their dilapidated palazzo by the Grand Canal, renewing his affair with a young opera singer Emanuela, and the arrival of Violet Mancroft, the widow of his best friend lost in the war. What he does not anticipate is the shadow lying over the Venier family’s future—nor has he reckoned with the vagaries of his own heart.
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“Vance’s voice is charming, and he enunciates each word in a precise, clipped British accent. His performance, like the text, is all about ambience…Suggested for audiophiles who relish moody historical fiction.”
— Booklist
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“[Rivière] probes every nook of his characters’ being…His creations are fragile objects but a delight to observe.”
— Times Literary Supplement -
“[A] cast of well-imagined characters at crossroads in their lives…Wonderfully lyrical passages, capturing a great city and all its subtle charms.”
— Daily Telegraph -
“[Rivière] is a specialist in haunting seascapes, creating a subtle and gripping story.”
— Evening Standard (London) -
“[A] lovely rhapsody of Venice and a stirring philosophical examination of war and its aftermath.”
— Publishers Weekly
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About William Rivière
William Rivière was born in 1954. After graduating from Cambridge, he spent several years in Venice and now teaches at the University Urbino in Italy. He was recently made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
About Simon Vance
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.