January 15, 2008
In his youth, di Robilant (correspondent, "La Stampa; A Venetian Affair") heard brief tales of his great-great-great-great grandmother, Lucia Mocenigo (17701854), but her life story began fully to unfold for him when he researched his ancestry for "A Venetian Affair". Di Robilant has taken period correspondence and secondary sources and woven them into Lucia's absorbing tale. A well-connected patrician, she enjoyed the privileges of wealth and status, rubbing elbows with the great historical figures of her time, including Empress Josephine, and serving as a palazzo landlady to Lord Byron during his infamous days in Venice. However, as di Robilant learned through Lucia's personal correspondence, her life, as exciting as it may have been, was not an easy one. Against the backdrop of the fall of the Venetian Republic, we learn the touching story of a young woman struggling to cope with a distant husband and the loss of a child, as control of her homeland passed back and forth between France and Austria. Recommended for academic and public libraries.Tessa L.H. Inchew, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Clarkston
Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from February 1, 2008
Using letters and diaries found in his family home and in archives, Italian journalist di Robilant presents a vivid picture of the Napoleonic era through the life of his great-great-great-great grandmother, Lucia Mocenigo. At the age of 15, Luciadaughter of Andrea Memmo, one of the lovers in di Robilants A Venetian Affair (2003)was betrothed to Alvise, the 26-year-old scion of Casa Mocenigo in Venice. Their marriage in 1787 was happy at first, despite frequent separations as Alvise pursued his diplomatic career (and strayed from the marital bed, carelessly leaving letters from his lovers) and Lucias frequent miscarriages. When at last a son was born, he died before his second birthday; her later affair with Austrian officer Baron Maximilian Plunkett produced another son, eventually claimed by Alvise as his own. While France and Austria battled, the Mocenigos mixed with royalty: Lucia was a longtime close friend of Empress Josephine and served as lady-in-waiting (described as a demanding yet boring assignment) to Bavarian princess Augusta in Milan. After Napoleons defeat, Lucia and Alvisethen at oddsreturned to Venice, where he died in 1815 and she later became Lord Byrons landlady, renting out part of Palazzo Mocenigo. An enticing portrait of a woman and her times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)