The Rossetti Letter [Import] [Paperback]

Christi Phillips (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847370675
• ISBN-13: 978-1847370679
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,072,610 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)    (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
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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.