By Amanda Dykes
Daniel Goodman made mistakes and paid the price society deemed he owed. But he knows he owes more to those he wronged, and he is determined to pay it in full. But when he learns that his mother is in need he takes on a job that will make use of his skills with language and sketching. His journey will take him from San Francisco to Venice, where he must search out a long-held secret. A secret that will mean more to him than he could have ever anticipated. What Daniel must discover is the conclusion to Sebastien Trovato's story. A story that Sebastien himself has long wondered about himself.
This is a story of discovery. Two men, one in the nineteenth century and the other at the dawn of the twentieth, both seeking answers. Sebastien seeks to learn who he is - as a child adrift upon the waters, he doesn't know where he came from, though his early years were filled with the caring of those who took him in and raised him. But this is so much more; this is a story of redemption. No life is too far gone if the heart is willing to change. But one must choose to change. It takes time, effort, and dedication, yet it is given to those who will accept it.
This is a work of Historical Fiction, but there is a thread of mystery that runs through it. The story alternates between Daniel's and Sebastien's, with more devoted to Daniel's at the beginning of the book.
I loved the prologue. I know there are those who skip it, viewing it as unnecessary. But this one is beautiful - the language is music to the soul as it introduces the reader to Venice.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.
About the Book:
When all of Venice is unmasked, one man’s identity remains a mystery . . .
1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future but also that of the beloved floating city.
1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.
