Venice for Lovers (Armchair Traveller)2005

Every year for each of the thirty they have been married, Louis Begley and Anka Muhlstein have escaped to Venice to write. In *Venice for Lovers*, the couple have fashioned an homage to the City of Water. Muhlstein charmingly describes how befriending restauranteurs has been an unsurpassed means of getting to know the city and its inhabitants. In his novella, Begley writes a story of falling in love with, and in, Venice. His twenty-year-old protagonist is lured to the city by the older woman he adores, only to be left to fend for himself. But he later discovers a lasting love for La Serenissima – not an uncommon occurrence, as Begley’s brilliant portrayal of the city’s place within world literature demonstrates: Henry James, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Mann were all illustrious predecessors in whom Venice inspired dreams of love and passion.