The Rossetti Letter [Paperback]

Christi Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2008

In this captivating debut, Christi Phillips blends fact and fiction, suspense and sensuality into a vibrant, richly imagined novel in which a modern historian uncovers a courtesan's secret role in a shocking conspiracy of seventeenth-century Venice.

Claire Donovan always dreamed of visiting Venice, though not as a chaperone for a surly teenager. But she can't pass up this chance to complete her Ph.D. thesis on Alessandra Rossetti, a mysterious courtesan who wrote a secret letter to the Venetian Council warning of a Spanish plot to overthrow the Venetian Republic in 1618. Claire views Alessandra as a heroine and harbors a secret hope that her findings will elevate Alessandra to a more prominent place in history. But an arrogant Cambridge professor is set to present a paper at a prestigious Venetian university denouncing Alessandra as a co-conspirator -- a move that could destroy Claire's paper and career.

As Claire races to locate the documents that will reveal the courtesan's true motives, Alessandra's story comes to life with all the sensuality, political treachery, and violence of seventeenth-century Venice. Claire also falls under the city's spell. She is courted by a handsome Italian, matches wits with her academic adversary, bonds with her troubled young charge, and, amid the boundless beauty of Venice, recaptures the joy of living every moment....

Layering wit and warmth into her portraits of two very different yet equally dynamic heroines, Christi Phillips shifts effortlessly between past and present in a remarkable novel that is at once a love story, a mystery, and an intriguing historical drama. Filled with beautifully rendered details of one of the world's oldest and most magical cities, The Rossetti Letter marks Phillips's debut as a writer of extraordinary skill and grace.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the Venetian courtesan Alessandra Rossetti wrote a letter that exposed the 1618 Spanish Conspiracy, Venice was saved. Four hundred years later in Phillips's lovingly researched half-historical, half-contemporary debut, Claire Donovan, an American graduate student, struggles to finish her dissertation on the courtesan's brave act. Claire attends a Venice conference to check out the work of British superstar historian Andrew Kent, who sees Rossetti as nothing more than the pawn of very powerful men in a diplomatic double cross: once Andrew's work is published, his ideas could derail Claire's fledgling career. Phillips, developing parallel plots, unspools Alessandra's story directly to the reader in detail denied Claire and Andrew, who overcome their initial animosity to solve the greater mystery. Academic machinations and missing manuscripts soon add complications. Further, Claire has to deal with her difficult teenage charge, Gwendolyn Fy, and with Giancarlo Baldessari, a handsome and rich admirer. Andrew has to deal with his gorgeous harridan of an Italian girlfriend—and, inevitably, his growing attraction to Claire. Such a profusion of textual plots and characters spread out over past and present recalls A.S. Byatt's Possession, but Phillips, while not aiming as high, misses her mark. Despite a nicely detailed Venice, a clear affection for the main characters and extensive period touches, Phillips's ambitious debut founders long before its predictable happy ending. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

With impeccable research into seventeenth-century Venetian politics, Phillips plots an intriguing literary suspense debut novel contrasted with the delightful modern romance between two rival academics. For Claire Donovan, it is critical that her thesis regarding the role of Alessandra Rossetti, a Venetian courtesan in the Spanish conspiracy to overthrow the Venetian government, be accepted as her entry into her chosen profession. On learning that an academic conference in Venice features a Cambridge professor who may refute her theories, she is desperate enough to take on the thankless task of chaperoning a troubled teen to Venice to finance her trip. Not only will a Harvard doctorate fulfill Claire's academic aspirations, it will also be her ticket out of the bad memories of a failed marriage. The parallel tale of Alessandra Rossetti gives the reader a compelling look at the mind of an intellectually curious young woman forced into the life of a courtesan because of poverty and loss of family. Moving effortlessly from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century and back, Phillips crafts an entertaining story with intrigue, espionage, and romance in both centuries. Laurie Sundborg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (February 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416527389
• ISBN-13: 978-1416527381
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christi Phillips is the author of The Devlin Diary and The Rossetti Letter, which has been translated into seven languages. Her research combines a few of her favorite things: old books, libraries, and travel. When she's not rummaging around in an archive or exploring the historic heart of a European city, she lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is at work on her next novel, set in France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars delightful combination historical fiction and contemporary academic romantic mystery, March 10, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rossetti Letter (Hardcover)

PH.D candidate Claire Donovan's thesis focuses on the role courtesan Alessandra Rossetti played in preventing a Spanish Conspiracy to overthrow the Venetian Republic government in 1618. A letter written by Rossetti is the primary source for Claire's paper and related efforts to obtain recognition for the seventeenth century heroine amongst historians.

Cambridge University History Professor Andrew Kent disagrees with Claire's basic premise. He feels the evidence is rather strong that Rossetti abetted the Spanish cause to remove from power the Venetian government. His efforts if proven correct destroy her thesis. Andrew and Claire agree to work together to uncover the truth behind the renowned Venetian courtesan.

Mindful in some ways of Lauren Willig's Eloise Kelly tales, THE ROSSETTI LETTER is a delightful combination historical fiction and contemporary academic romantic mystery. Due to rotating perspective, readers ironically know more about Rossetti and the 1618 Spanish Conspiracy than the history professor and the graduate student. Though some minor subplots like those involving Andrew's Italian girlfriend and Claire's Italian suitor and her chaperoning a fourteen years old teenage "ward provide some insight into their characters, these feel intrusive as the prime theme is for the modern day academic "sleuths" to uncover the almost four century old secrets of what occurred. Overall fans will enjoy this entertaining historiography tale seen through rose colored glasses.

Harriet Klausner

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better debuts in recent years, June 4, 2007

By 

David W. Nicholas (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rossetti Letter (Hardcover)

I like historical novels. I don't like romances. I wound up with a copy of this book by accident, and decided to read it on the off chance it would wind up being more of the former and less of the latter. It turned out that my wish was to come true, for the most part: romance is part of the plot, but the story is interesting and very intelligent, and the characters and plot are intriguing, to say the least.

The book opens with the main character, Claire Donovan. Claire's going to grad school, trying to become a historian, and her thesis is going to be on an obscure event in the history of the Republic of Venice--the Spanish Conspiracy, where a group of Spaniards conspired to overthrow the Venetian government and replace it with a Spanish Viceroy. The plot was uncovered by a Venetian courtesan who blew the whistle on the conspirators, and in doing so apparently endangered herself, perhaps even got herself killed. Claire wants to find out more about her, and explore her motives for doing what she did.

The story is built in two threads. First we follow Claire for ten or twenty pages, then we follow Alessandra, the Venetian courtesan, as she learns her trade, plies it, and then is drawn into the conspiracy. As the novel progresses, the two plot threads intertwine just enough to make both enjoyable and interesting. By the end of the book, you're very comfortable with the main characters and fascinated by the outcomes of the plot.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, and I would recommend it to almost anyone. It has that Latin-esque feel to it, a bit slow but warm and fascinating, too.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful narrative with a vivid portrait of Venice now and then, April 3, 2007

By 

Stephanie Cowell (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rossetti Letter (Hardcover)

THE ROSSETTI LETTER follows two engrossing stories. First, the young courtesan, forced by necessity into that profession in early seventeenth century Venice and her involvement in the Spanish conspiracy. Second, the contemporary historian Claire who goes to search for the truth of the courtesan in the Venice of today, dragging a troublesome 14-year-old girl whom she must chaperone for the week, finding possible love and wonderful ancient letters and libraries along the way. A mystery slowly evolves along with an old tragic love story and a possible quirky new one. I loved it as a reader and as a fellow novelist -- I am the author of Penguin's MARRYING MOZART.