''Venice for Lovers'' consists of two essays — one by

Louis Begley Louis Begley (born Ludwik Begleiter; October 6, 1933) is a Polish-American novelist. He is best known for writing the semi-autobiographical Holocaust novel ''Wartime Lies'' (1991) and the ''Schmidt'' trilogy: ''About Schmidt'' (1996), ''Schmidt ...

and one by his wife

Anka Muhlstein Anka Muhlstein (born 1935) is a French historian and biographer. Early life Muhlstein was born to Anatol Mühlstein and Diane de Rothschild in Paris in 1935. Her older sister was endocrinologist Nathalie Josso, and her younger sister is artist ...

, and a short story by Begley. The essays are about

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, and the story takes place in Venice.

Overview

Every year for all the 30 years they have been married, the couple spends long, enjoyable months in Venice. They write and live there and over the decades ''La Serenissima'' has become their second home. The owners of their favourite restaurants have become their friends and they share the lives of the locals, far off the beaten tourist tracks, as Muhlstein describes in her contribution to this book.The book contains a fine folded map of

on elegant oilpaper.

's essay is on the city's place within world literature and discusses works of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

and

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

that are set in Venice. Begley's story is about a young man's frustrating love affair in Venice. Originally written in German and French, the authors revised the English edition, adding extra material. The book is a personal view of a place, which will forever inspire dreams of love and passion.

Excerpt

The last section of the book is written singlehandedly by

and is entitled ''Venice: Reflections of a Novelist'' and opens thus:

References

External links

{{sisterlinks, Venice
Official Site of the City of Venice
2005 books Jewish American literature Books about Venice Culture in Venice

Overview

Excerpt

See also

References

External links