The book of Meow

“The sky on a clear night is a living, pulsating thing. The stars are like musical notes turned to light, and, like notes, they shimmer and swell and fade and fall. The painters have never captured it — but they never will until some painter teaches his colors to dance.”

Since last year I become interested in stories set in Venice and this book was intriguing for me. Loosely based on real life events of the young musicians who were taught by Vivaldi, the novel presents Anna Maria’s life, an orphan who plays violin and who is searching for her mother.
The story is told poetically through the voice of 14 year old Anna who is writing letters to her mother while the rest of the book is told from the view point of Anna Maria as a 40 year old woman, filling in the gaps that the younger Anna’s letters leave blank.
There is a bit of mystery involved in the story but having read many novels which use this as a plot device I find it less interesting than the descriptions of the setting which is brought vividly to life here.

The entire book is so focused on music and Anna’s love for music it really comes through in the writing style. It was so lyrical. I just felt the ending was too simple. I do have a lot of respect for people who write historical fiction and can tie all the loose ends together at the end in a way that is realistic and compelling. Unfortunately, this author fell short a little.

Still, I enjoyed the book overall.