Lead Review – plus talking to the editor about the book and Ven
- Book: Dream of Venice
- Location: Venice
- Author: Frances Mayes, JoAnn Locktov (Editor)
“…a city frozen in time with its living identity kept secret and unseen by the casual visitor or tourist” Nicolas Roeg, film director.
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An utterly sumptuous collection of photographs, each captioned with pertinent prose, each penned by a chosen contributor with anecdotes, extracts, poems and special pieces of prose. Several authors share extracts from their books set in Venice, from Frances Mayes (remember the wonderful book Under the Tuscan Sun?) to David Hewson and Patricia Highsmith and not forgetting the brilliant Marina Fiorato, who also sets her novels in Italy.
It is hard to express the quality and diversity of images that are featured in this tome, taken by Charles Christopher, but it is safe to say that they all conjure up a fabulous feel for the city. I just wanted to go back myself and revisit some of the well known areas, but also soak up some of those little corners so beautifully and vividly portrayed in many of the images. With each image (and we feature below just a few of the photographic highlights to tempt you!) there is a piece of prose:
Julie Christie recalls her experience of the city when she was filming “Don’t Look Now” and talks about ominous light and shade and feeling anticipatory about what might be around the next corner. But, she says, it may well have had something to do with the theme of the film!
“Venice is a city of theatre, built for pageantry and high drama..” Hutton Wilkinson, Interior Designer
“Venice, the city where I seem never to know if I’m walking through the changing scenes of a play or the dreamlike slow motion of a film” Sylvia Sass, Operatic Soprano
There are insightful words from Peggy Guggenheim, Claire Bloom, Nicolas Roeg and so many more. The book feels like a personal exploration of the city, taking the reader away from the main sites and urging exploration of the nooks and crannies of this wonderful, wonderful city. Treat yourself to a copy, you won’t regret it – it will take you back if you have been and spur you to go and visit if you haven’t!
And on our original blogpost we chat to JoAnn Locktov about the book and about Venice!
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