Book Review: The Venetian Contract by Marina Fiorato

In 1576, five years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto, a ship slips unnoticed into Venice bearing a deadly cargo. A man, more dead than alive, disembarks and staggers twoards the Piazza San Marco. He brings a gift to Venice from the Turkish Sultan. Within days the city will be infected with bubonic plague - and the Turks will have their revenge.

For months the plague wreaks havoc on Venice. In despair, the Doge summons the architect Andrea Palladio and offers him a commission: the greatest church of his career, an offering to God so magnificent that Venice will be saved. Palladio's own life is in danger too, and it will require all the skills of Dr Annibale Cason, the city's finest plague doctor, to keep him alive. But what Dr Cason has not counted on is the other passenger who disembarked from the Turkish ship - a young and beautiful harem doctor whose skills will more than match his own

Publication Date:   21st June 2012
Publisher:  John Murray
Source:  Review Copy From Publisher
Links: Goodreads  /  Amazon.co.uk  /  Amazon.com   

My Review     10 out of 10

To see the video review, please see the end of this post...

My usual go to book is either YA or Romance but this year I promised myself to try new things so when I read the blurb to this one it sounded amazing and a great way to dip my toe into the historical fiction pool...  

I absolutely loved this story.  I immediately warmed to the main character in this story, who is Feyrd (Fey for short).  She is a harem to the Queen but there is a lot more to the story that we have yet to find out and a lot more to the story that Fey has to find out also.  

This story is in many parts, like stages in the story, as we follow what happens in Venice with the Plague.  There are a lot of characters but with great descriptions I had no trouble following who was who.  

Such a great historical fiction book that I would highly recommend to those of you who love historic fiction and also to all those who have not tried a historic fiction book yet...

Best wishes

Debs :-)