The Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips – My Review

Gallery (February 19, 2008)
When I heard about the sequel to this book several weeks ago I knew it sounded intriguing and since these books have the same characters I decided I needed to read them in order.

When I finally picked this one out of the pile and cracked it open I wanted nothing more than to sit and read till my eyes flopped closed from exhaustion, however I had to consider my daily commitments and needs as well. I had hoped to complete it in a couple days although life had other ideas. Now I look forward to The Devlin Diary. Although this is Phillips’ first novel it was one of those books you soon know will grace the keeper shelf. The story itself moves forward yet intertwines lives and events from the 17th century and modern times so intricately that it seemed as if I was not only living in 17th Century Venice, seeing it through the eyes of Alessandra Rossetti and somehow also experiencing the city for the first time as Claire, a twenty first century graduate student. The research for Claire’s dissertation left me dizzy with the picturesque descriptions of ancient Venice yet craving the timeless atmosphere of a modern European city still rich with the ancient flavors and architecture that Claire ingests as she is digging for the pieces needed to fill in the final details of her dissertation on an event that remains uncertain even centuries later. Trails were nonexistent or engineered to point in a certain direction though reality might tell a differing tale if only modern researchers could navigate beyond the smoke screen erected so many years past. (ISBN#9781416527381, 480pp, $15.00)

Codicil:
Visit Christi’s Website. Click the bookcover for more info or to purchase a copy. I purchased my copy so I could read these in order. The blog tour for the sequel, The Devlin Diary, is coming up this week.