The Mascherari: A Novel of Venice Kindle Edition

Venice didn’t invent the mask, but no society in history ever wore them more frequently.In most societies, they’re merely worn for an evening masquerade, or a Mardi gras parade. In Venice, from the 1200s clear up until Napoleon conquered the Italian Republic in 1797, citizens of every class routinely spent three months (or more) in disguise, donning their Carnival masks the day after Christmas and sporting them until Shrove Tuesday and the start of Lent in early March – an understandable invitation to trouble. An anonymous populace could get involved in a lot of mischief in three months, from illicit sex and spying to assassination and murder.What more could a writer wish for?In her new, supernatural thriller “The Mascherari,” author Laura Rahme turns her imagination loose, inventing a delicious, dark tale of witchcraft, byzantine political intrigue, and bacchanalian mayhem played out between the feasts of Natale (Dec. 25) and Epiphany (Jan. 6).It’s the winter solstice, 1422. Tuscan widower and retired crime investigator Antonio da Parma has just returned to Venice following the death of his wife. He’s been re-hired as an inquisitor by Almoro Donato and the secretive, Consiglio dei Dieci, a group of ten powerful men which oversees the Republic’s internal security, coinage and morality. Heading for the Ducal Palace, he comes across a wealthy masked merchant, Giacomo Contarini, and his aristocratic friends, roughing up an elderly Milanese mascheraro (mask maker) fallen behind on his loan. When da Parma tries to intervene, he’s dragged into an alley and beaten up himself. Two days later, Donato informs him the Signori di Notte (secret police) have discovered the cadavers of Contarini, three of his partners, and his daughter. Contarini appears to be an easily explainable murder; the other four deaths are more troubling, coincidentally odd, even bizarre. Donato hands da Parma the police file – quietly investigate, and report back to the nervous Council. Da Parma quickly discovers that Contarini on the morning he was murdered received a mysterious delivery of five, unordered but exquisitely-crafted Carnival masks. Who sent the phantasmagorical creations is unclear, but their magical workmanship was too exceptional and tempting to not wear them to a party that night.Deadly mistake.Rahme employs letters, diaries, journal entries and sworn testimonies to deliver the account of da Parma’s unsettling investigation and horrific discoveries, as various characters disclose their secrets, and the sinister, witching power of the masks is revealed.Along the way, we’re educated about the sex life of medieval Venice. The Republic encouraged unmarried men to visit the bordellos in Carampane in order to discourage homosexuality (sodomy and cross-dressing merit capital punishment); puttana (prostitutes) wore yellow shawls, and flaunted their wares on the Ponte delle Tette (Bridge of Tits); some convents were de facto whorehouses, warehousing superfluous daughters discarded by their families – rebellious girls bereft of any religious vocation or interest in a celibate life.Fifteenth-century Venetian cuisine pops up frequently, and sounds intriguing: leek and goat cheese pie; garlic and bean soup (whew!); pork and quail on skewers; eel pie, squid pie, Sarde in Saor (Rahme’s handy Glossary at the end of the book defines a half-dozen, different Carnival masks, but I had to Google this dish, which turns out to be sweet and sour sardines).Historical curiosities constantly entertain: Parchment is slowly being replaced by paper – “a Mohammedan invention” denounced by the Church. The government kept prisoners in the “Wells,” a subterranean jail beneath the Doge’s palace, where they applied the euphemistic “Question” (were tortured). Fiore dei Liberi was the era’s reigning master of fencing (swordsmanship features large in the novel). Venetians used cinnamon mouthwash (bet you didn’t know that).The author’s personal life is as exotic as her fiction. Rahme was born in Dakar, Senegal, of Lebanese, French and Vietnamese heritage; grew up speaking French; holds degrees in Psychology and Engineering (Aerospace Avionics); lives Down Under; idolizes Khalil Gibran; and set her first novel in early Ming China.If you’re a book buyer looking for an entertaining tale, or a book blogger looking for an entertaining interview, you’ve just found it.

The Mascherari: A novel of Venice by Laura Rahme“It bore her face, the face of a ghost that had long vanished and yet its presence seemed so near, so near I had only to reach out, to reach out and grasp it”.To write a novel is to dream a story and write it down on the page. That’s why the power of a really good story is one of true magic. Good stories engage the reader utterly in the writer’s dream so the dream becomes theirs, too.Lyrically written, The Mascherari is a wonderful, rich and utterly imaginative dream of a novel. Brutal murder, revenge, pagan witchcraft, conspiracy, corruption, betrayal, sacrifice, all form part of this gothic, epistolary detective novel that takes place in Venice, in the year 1422. Use of letters not only lead the reader through the story but also give voice to strong, well drawn characters. Reading The Mascherari, a long, very long, memory echoed of my first introduction to Dracula, a work that opened wide the door to my lifelong fascination with the supernatural as a teenager. Like Dracula, The Mascherari also soaked into my psyche and left me with disturbing dreams.The beautiful city of Venice is an immensely important character in this work, too. The Grand canal, the traffic of gondolas, dark alleyways, the glitter of gold and the sheen of silk, seediness alongside luxury, all the colour of Carnevale di Venezia, in Rahme’s capable hands, we are there, in Venice of so long ago.The Mascherari is also an extremely original love story – a love story that haunts Antonio da Parma, the main character of this work and a man determined to find truth, no matter the cost. His love story also haunts the reader. It is a story of loss; a story of finding; a story of confronting and then claiming your true self.Magic drives the core of this work; it throbs and sings and creates a sense of wonderment, until it bursts apart like an exploding star, bringing all the elements of the story together to reach an ending that intermixes both grief and joy.The Mascherari offers a tale that feels like a labyrinth in its execution. But the author never lets the reader feel lost, rather intrigued, tantalised, and determined to follow Antonio in his quest of discovery. We hold onto the threads of the story until we reach its heart – and the dream has ended. Or has it? The ending suggests we will one day be invited to revisit Antonio da Parma for more adventures. I hope so.

I enjoyed the history and time period, late 1300's-early 1400's Venice. The period contributed to the intrigue, politics, magic and violence this story contains. Venetian politics then and now have changed but corruption has remained throughout time which, as I perceive it to be, is the foundation of this story. Antonio da Parma is an inquisitor who is called in by the Council of Ten to discover the facts behind several very unusual murders. He does his job well but after unveiling some facts that contributed to the murders he is told that his investigation, although not completed, has been closed by the Council. Not satisfied with this he goes against the Council and continues to investigate and now becomes the one that is hunted. Throughout the book he encounters betrayal, government corruption, witch magic, friendship, and ultimately love but this is not a typical love story. The writing is very good and includes a character list and a glossary but the glossary unfortunately omits quite a few Italian words and the context in which they are used does not necessarily make them easily defined. It is a lengthy book and at times I did skim over setting descriptions, even though very well written wherein the author vividly creates the scene in your mind, there were many descriptions which, for me, got a bit tedious two thirds of the way through and I felt it was slowing my progression of the story. The story is written in journal and letter format which was new to me but it retains consistency and tempo so is easy to follow. Apart from these two criticisms which I feel are minor overall to the book, I would still recommend reading this book.

An interesting insight into some of the political machinations of Venice of the time. A strong plot with some good twists.

I've never been a fan of 'historical novels', but the attention to detail and pace in this story made it a most enjoyable read. The characters had real depth and it took me back to Venice again and again. I only wish I'd discovered the glossary in the back before I finished.

Good Admosphere and good history.I really felt like I was in Venice. It's a good history work too.Recommended

Ripping good yarn but ending disappointed

This is a novel that never seems quite clear about what it is about. Is it a supernatural thriller? How seriously are we to take dreams, portents, tarot readings? Is it a mystery? Are there clues here that we can follow to became engaged in a battle of wits with the author? If so, can we believe in the characters that enact the playing out of the entanglements? Laura Rahme has given us something that is nether fish nor fowl, an unbelievable tale of spirits framed around an insipid mystery. I would term the characters as "two-dimensional" but that would be one dimension too many. And of the ending, it would be hard to be more disappointing or trite.Ms Rahme sprinkles every page liberally with Venetian terms, as if using "avogadore" instead of "lawyer" or "filze" instead of "file" makes her presentation more credible. In fact, the author knows less about 15th-century Venice than she would like to have us believe. The "French Disease" with which one victim is afflicted did not arrive in Venice until 80 years after the date of this story. Execution by trap-door was not used in medieval Venice; it only appeared in the 1800s. She uses "Plutarch" (46-120 AD) when she wants to say "Petrarch" (1304-1374 AD); "sbirri" doesn't mean quite what she thinks it does; Venetians of the 1400s would not have known what a teenager was. Most crucial for the plot is her misunderstanding of the role of sodomy accusations. I will not be seeking out any other of the author's works.