Lauren Kate’s
depiction of Venice’s glamorous upper class, their outfits and their behaviour,
makes for fascinating reading. Her description of the Venice of the time, its
architecture and customs, allows readers to feel as if they are actually in the
city. (Review by Caroline Smart)
The Orphan’s Song is a historical
adult debut novel by Lauren Kate. It is described aptly as “a sweeping love
story about family and music – and the secrets each hold – that follows the
intertwined fates of two Venetian orphans.”
Lauren Kate is the #1 New York Times– and
internationally bestselling author of nine novels for young adults, including Fallen, which was made into a major
motion picture. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages and
have sold more than ten million copies worldwide.
In her first foray into adult reading, she reveals a
clear descriptive capacity for emotional feeling and empathy for the lonely. She
also shows good observation and respect of classic architecture.
The Orphan’s Song is set in
Venice in the early 18th century. The heroine is Violetta who we
meet as a five-year-old in The Incurables, a nursery for foundling children,
having been abandoned when she was two days old. The orphanage is set in the
sleepy neighbourhood of Dorsoduro with separate entrances for boys and girls.
The girls are taught to sing and play for the church and Violetta loves music
with a passion.
At night, when the other little girls are asleep, she creeps
up to the attic and looks out over the city of Venice, exploring the city and
its canals in her mind, no longer a lonely orphan but an independent free
spirit.
One winter night, she hears a woman singing a sad song
of love. She sees the woman approaching the calle,
a cylinder protruding from the base of the orphanage building which connected
to the kitchen and allowed mothers to leave their unwanted children in the safe
care of The Incurables. The woman leaves her young child in the calle and this leaves a memory that is forever
emblazoned in Violetta’s mind.
Time goes on and Violetta’s voice grows to the point
where she is selected for The Incurables’ world famous coro, but must sign an oath never to sing beyond its church doors. At
heart a rebel, her loneliness and desire to continue to sing overrides the ruling
and she escapes at night, eventually being employed to sing at an exclusive
club.
Before her nightly escapades, she goes up to the roof
of the orphanage and one night meets a young man (Milo) who also seeks solitary
refuge on the roof. There is an instant rapport between them Violetta suddenly
realises that he is the young boy left at the calle but feels she cannot mention this to him.
Kate’s depiction of Venice’s glamorous upper class,
their outfits and their behaviour, makes for fascinating reading. Her description
of the Venice of the time, its architecture and customs, allows readers to feel
as if they are actually in the city.
The story follows Violetta and Milo’s separate lives
and the heartaches they both endure before they eventually come together in a
heart-warming ending.
The Orphan’s Song is
published by Putnam. ISBN 9780735212572 –
Caroline Smart
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