Let’s be honest, I was first drawn to this book because of the gorgeous cover. I also like historical fiction and Italy, so it definitely was appealing.

This is an interesting historical fiction following the model of jumping back and forth from present day to Renaissance Italy. The characters are interesting and I found myself wanting to know more about their stories. It’s not a predictable story either as there are twists and an edging that I thought was unexpected.

I enjoyed this book because I was also able to learn things I didn’t know about 1570s Venice though an engaging story instead of a dry history text. I didn’t know anything about the naval battle that takes place in the book, and I also wasn’t aware of the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Jews were also required to identify themselves with yellow badges... Hundreds of years before World War II.

Time-hopping between two story lines, The Lost Diary of Venice, tells the timeless tale of how our lives intertwine with each others without warning.

Rose runs a bookshop in Connecticut, but her true love is the manuscript restoration she runs in the back room. When she is asked to take on a new project she has no idea how much it will take over her life. Daydreaming about the manuscripts owner, Rose finds herself relating to people who have lived 500 years ago.....

Giovanni is an artist in Venice in fear of losing his sight. Contracted to sketch a portrait of a courtesan belonging to a lead official as the Holy Wars are in full swing, Gio knows this will be his last work before his sight is completely gone. What he doesn't except is the relationship that will build with his muse.

Back in Connecticut, William is a descendant of Giovanni's and an artist as well. Only William has lost his muse and potentially his marriage. Having just moved to the suburbs in an attempt to keep his family together, he hires Rose to restore the manuscript recently found--and finds his muse again.

Hopping back and forth between time periods is muddy in the beginning. A lot of historical detail is given about Venice and can feel overly detailed at first, but as the reader falls more and more in love with the characters in both time periods--the details become necessary to understand the trials both groups face. This is not a time period this reader is especially familiar with and I truly enjoyed getting lost in the canals of Venice and the winding streets of New Haven, Connecticut. The theme of unrequited love is a timeless one.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions given are my own.

Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for this arc. Due to very less rating for this book I am not going to post this review anywhere ( my blog, bookstagram and good reads ) other than here !
I finished 38% of the book . I couldn’t drag myself to read further . The narration is painfully slow paced . The characters are not clear and there is no emotions at all . The overly descriptive passages were too bored to read and deviate from the main line . I was interested in the book because of its mention of historical Venice but that historical part of the story was not at all to the point ! Lot of characters to remember and none of them hooks us into the story ! The present day Connecticut story is equally dull and dragged ! I thought of after some 25% of the book the story may pick up . But I am clearly wrong ! This book is not for me !

The Lost Diary of Venice
A Novel
by Margaux DeRoux
Read an Excerpt
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
Ballantine Books
Historical Fiction
Pub Date 09 Jun 2020 | Archive Date 31 Aug 2020

What a book! Thanks to Net Galley and Random House Publishing-Ballentine for the ARC of this book.
Part of it was confusing for me to read (crows), But all in all it is a great book.
Get your hands on a copy when it is released in June.

This book held my interest from start to finish. It takes place in both the 1500’s and today and flips back and forth between both. It is like reading two stories which are bound together. The most interesting thing is you want to keep reading to see how they tie together. The ending is not obvious, and most certainly not what the reader, at least this one, would want to happen. I like the way the characters are developed and the descriptions are most colorful. However I did have a tough rime following the parts about the crows in the 1500’s part. I was not quite sure what all that was about or exactly what was happening.. All in all, I did find the book to be a fast and most enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys historical fiction.

Thanks Net Galley for my advance release copy.

This debut historical novel is set in two different time periods, present day Connecticut and Venice in 1571. In the present day is Rose, a restorer of fine manuscripts. When William Lomazzo walks into her life with a palimpsest, a document written on vellum with the underlying text scraped away, she is immediately fascinated by both the owner and the book itself. In Venice, Giovanni Lomazzo is a well-known artist who is commissioned to paint the portrait of a nobleman’s courtesan and finds himself fascinated by the young woman.

This book is a fascinating read. The writing is outstanding and sometimes lyrical. The characters are well-drawn and multifaceted. The storyline is complex and intriguing.

The reader is taken into the world of Renaissance Venice and can feel the dampness of the city as well as the tension building with the possibility that the Ottoman Empire’s navy may lay siege to Venice. Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo was a real and talented artist who is brought to life in this novel.

Deroux moves seamlessly between the two time periods and never loses her reader as she tells the two fascinating love stories.

This book will have you reading into the wee hours of the morning and when you’re not reading it, you’ll be thinking about it.

If you like well-written, complex, compelling historical novels, you’ll want to put this book at the top of your to-be-read list.

My thanks to Ballantine and Edelweiss for an eARC.

The juxtaposition of these two stories in one is fascinating. To be a book restorer sounds like a satisfying profession. Rose is just that. This story of how William, the artist, and this book which dates from the 1500’s, come into and affect Rose’ s world, is the basis for this novel. The rich history that surrounds the story is wonderfully descriptive and educational, especially to one who loves history. This is a beautiful book, and a really great read. Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ePub. I’ll be thinking about Chiara, Rose, Giovanni and William for a long time. Ms. DeRoux’s writing left a very strong impression on me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine books for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

I found this novel very enjoyable. Two parallel stories are told – one from the 1500’s in Venice, and another in modern-day Connecticut.

Rose Newlin owns a bookstore in Connecticut, and works as a book restorer. William Lomazzo visits her store with a request for her to restore a 16th century book – a treatise on art – that he believes was written by his great great (several times over) grandfather – Giovanni Lomazzo. As Rose starts to investigate the book, she discovers it is a Palimpsest – a book written over a previous document that had been scraped off the vellum. As she works, she realized the first layer of the work is Gio’s diary.

Meanwhile we follow Giovanni, an artist, as he struggles to cope with slowly losing his sight. As he works on the last painting he is ever likely to be able to produce, the Ottoman empire is heading to invade Venice, and war is about to break out. Gio finds himself in love with the mistress of a very powerful man – and suddenly in danger. He decides to record both his life and details of his skills before it is too late.

Rose and William discover the history of Gio together, and must start to face the consequence of their own connection.

I thought the author did a great job of bringing ancient Venice to life in a way that made you feel like you were there. Lots of historical details about the daily life of its citizens were shared in an engaging way. I learned a lot about the darker side of life at that time. The way the two stories were woven together worked well, and the characters were very believable.

The ending was very satisfying to me to, as considered adult choices were made in the conclusion to both of the stories.

The Lost Diary of Venice

Being from Connecticut I can picture Rose’s book restoration shop to be in the heart of our antique valley in the neighboring towns of Southbury and Woodbury. After reading more, I picture this taking place in New Haven since the author hints at an Ivy. However, New Haven is not quaint and definitely not a book restoration town.

I felt like this story had so much promise, but it just didn’t come to fruition or make sense like I wanted it to. I love dual timeline stories. However, I always feel like one is more developed than another. In this one, you have present day with Rose and William. Sometimes there’s a Sarah, Joan, or Lucas thrown in there but they’re easy to keep track of. In 1571, you have Gio, Chiara, Aurelio, Venier, Corvino, Crow. Or is Crow another name for Corvino? It was incredibly difficult to keep the past in check without writing it down.

The author would describe Corvino and then say crow and then use action words to describe what Crow was doing and it was Corvino. It was just too much in a short span of time. There were so many things going on in the past and it just didn’t work for me as a reader.

By the time Sarah and William finally act on their feelings it is 75% into the book, but Sarah has also flirted with Lucas and I truly felt like there was something there. There was romance, art, Italy... what more could you want? It felt like there wasn’t anything else the author could have done, but done so much more at the same time. I wish the 1571 timeline was refined and cleaned up better.

You must read this book! Told in dual timelines, we begin in the present day. Rose is working on restoring a document written during the Renaissance period in Venice, italy by a painter, Giovanni, who is slowly losing his eyesight. Imagine an artist losing his eyesight! As the document's contents are slowly revealed, Giovanni's ambitions and innermost thoughts are revealed. At the same time, in the present, Rose is discovering who she is too, and who she ultimately wants to be. You will meet William in the present (the diary belongs to him), and Chiara in the past, a courtesan whom you will come to love. The two timelines mingle and intertwine as the story unfolds, and I found myself as conflicted as the characters were as the story reveals itself. This is a very well-researched and beautifully written story that kept me turning the pages. There were surprises sprinkled throughout which kept me very interested. I also learned something of the history of the region as the epic battle (that now adorns our history books) was fought nearby in the Adriatic Sea. It builds and then rages in the background in the frail pages of the ancient document. If you are an historical fiction fan, this will please you. If you like women's fiction, this will definitely hold your interest too. Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the absolute pleasure of being able to read and review this beautiful novel.

The premise of the book sounded interesting to me. The plot was very slow moving though, and the characters weren't interesting enough to draw me in, I ended up giving up less than half way through. I think that it could be a case of just the wrong book at the wrong time for me though, and I may try again later. There were a lot of complicated relationships in the book, so maybe the characters start to develop more as the story moves on. It just felt really slow and flat.

I requested this book because it sounded interesting. I love historical fiction and love reading about Italy so I thought I would really enjoy it. However, this book just didn’t grab me. I kept falling asleep while reading it and then would have to go back pages to remember what was going on. Nothing really grabbed me and pulled me in. I’ve realized I’m more of a plot driven reader. This was more story and character driven I guess? I found the writing too flowery and descriptive when I didn’t really care, I thought the writer was trying too hard at times and trying to add suggestive Language in the writing that I didn’t feel added to the story. I just wasn’t excited about this book. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Pros: I thought the writing was beautiful and descriptive. I easily got lost in the story and could imagine myself among the characters. I loved the historical aspect of the novel. I learned about Renaissance history in Venice and did some of my own internet research to learn more about this time in history. I loved the relationship the author created between Gio and Chiara. It was easy to believe how much they cared for one another and how in tune each was with the other.

Cons: I felt the novel was fast-paced until about halfway through when I began to lose interest. I wish that the restoration of the full diary had come sooner, allowing for more details at the end of the story, as I felt the ending was rushed. I did not like the relationship between Rose and William, wishing instead that it had remained on a purely professional note.

Although this book started out a bit slow for me, I got more and more into it as it went on and then did not want it to end. I really loved both stories, both in the current time as well as the past interlacing with it. I always love reading about Italy during the renaissance time, especially when it comes to art and also the lives of courtesans. The author did such a fantastic job of painting a picture in your mind of Giovanni and Chiara's life during this time. I also really enjoyed Rose and William's story and how it was interwoven with everything. This is a must read for anyone who loves books, art and the Italian Renaissance. Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

I really loved this book. The setting felt authentic, and the characters so alive! I was so sorry to get to the end, always the mark of a good book.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a dual timeline.Romance story. I did not finish this novel due to the fact that the main characters have an affair. The book was a bit hard to get into as well. Not for me.

This book just did not hold my interest. I really tried, but after 50% I just couldn't do it. My first problem with it was that although it is told from two different time periods and locations, this information was never provided. I enjoyed the chapters that were told in the present day (at least I assume it was present day) - but I found the chapters that were told in late Renaissance Venice hard to follow and not at all compelling. Because I didn't complete the book I can't give much more of a review. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy.

For me the book was a disappointment. Reading the summary, I thought I would enjoy it, as HF is my favorite genre. However, this book was a difficult read for me. Very slow. Nothing really grabbed me and pulled me in. The writing wasn't bad, but the story just dragged. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A well written lovely read.A romance a story that spans between time,From the beautiful cover to the intriguing story I really enjoyed and will be recommending.#netgalley#randomhouse

This book was a slow burn, beautiful language and descriptions. 1570s Venice, an artist falls in love with a courtesan. There are eyes everywhere and they are both keeping secrets while playing a dangerous game. Present day, Rose is hired by William to restore an ancient book. Despite being married, William feels intensely drawn to Rose. The feeling is mutual.