Book cover of Vivaldi's Virgins

Book description

Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pieta as an infant, is determined to find out who she is and where she came from. Her quest takes her beyond the cloister walls into the complex tapestry of Venetian society, from the impoverished alleyways of the Jewish Ghetto to a…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Vivaldi's Virgins as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This historical fiction novel formed Anna Maria dal Violin into a real person for me and inspired me to humanize every woman I wrote about in my own book.

Anna Maria was abandoned at the church of the Pieta in Venice where she was taught to sing and play numerous instruments. She became a violin virtuoso and a favorite of Vivaldi, who wrote pieces specifically to challenge her.

Barbara Quick takes this real story and makes both Anna Maria and Venice live brightly in eighteenth-century Venice.

From Kathleen's list on undaunted Italian women to inspire you.

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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

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