From the Publisher's Website:
It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance and Venice teems with rumors of an ancient book that hold the secrets of unimaginable power. Rich and poor alike speculate abouthe the long buried secred tht might be scrawled in its pages and where the book might be hidden in the labyrinthine city. While those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it.
As a storm of intrigue percolates in Her Most Serene Republic, Luciano, a penniless orphan, is plucked off the street by the doge’s chef and taken in as the chef’s apprentice. In the palace kitchen Luciano is initiated into the chef’s rich and mysterious world where recipes are more than they seem.
It is not long before Luciano is caught up in the madness. Torn between loyalty to his street friends and his passion for Francesca, a convent girl, Lucianco’s worthiness is tested. Armed with a precicious mind and insatiable curiosity, Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing opent he shutters of his mind, inflalme his deepest esires, and leaven an indelible mark on his soul.
About the Author:
Elle Newmark is an award winning writer whose books are inspired by her travels. She prowled the back streets of Venice to cook up The Book of Unholy Mischief and explored India by car and elephant to conjure The Devil’s Wind. She calls California home.
For more information on Elle or her work visit http://www.ellenewmark.com/
My Opinion:
Oh what a treat! From the very first page this book drew me into another world, another time. I didn't want to put it down and I didn't want it to end.
We first meet Luciano as a young boy, thrown out into the street after his caretaker at a brothel dies and the new "madam" for lack of a better word no longer wants him around. He befriends two other street urchins as they steal food just to survive. One day while stealing a pomegranate he is saved by the chef to the doge of Venice. He is brought to the palace and suddenly finds himself with three meals a day and a warm place to sleep.
Luciano is young but the chef sees potential and perhaps something else in him. The chef is full of many secrets and decides that Luciano will be his successor.
There is so much to this book; the plots and subplots wind together so seamlessly and I don't want to give things away in a review. The characters are well drawn and the pace of the book is rather like a good meal - sections of intense use of the senses with periods of rest in between. The style of writing pulls you into time and place so that you can almost see Venice; you can almost smell the meals the chef is cooking.
A delightful and most thought provoking book.
The Book of Unholy Mischief is available at Amazon.com
Disclosure: I received a gratis copy of The Book of Unholy Mischief from Pump up Your Book Promotions. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by the receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.
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