What else? This is a very feminine take on the immortality problem. Even though it’s about a woman who has lived for 300 years, it’s not all as great as you might think. Liz Heron is very good on the losses entailed in living that long – the loss of lovers, husbands, children. She’s also good on the position of women through the ages. And the practicalities of disguise. There’s an irony to reading this in an age when we are all desperate to appear eternally young – for Eva, it makes life very complicated.
We get a glimpse of Venetian history, and get taken to parts of Venice the tourist never sees. We get rippled reflections of European cultural history. It’s a lovely read.
The only slight issue for me was that I wasn’t quite sure what Eva saw in Paul. I can see what he sees in her – she’s poised and elegant and beautiful and mysterious – but I didn’t get such a strong sense of him as a person.
Venice is her real lover, I think. It made me want to book a flight immediately.
fantasticmetastaticme 