Oh my, I can't say enough about how much I loved this book. Very informative about the time period in Venice and such great characters. Could not put it down and stayed up late reading. ( )

This book was a departure from the type of book I usually read. This book was a historical fiction novel set in Vienna in the 1700s. Violetta is an orphan at The Incurables orphanage. She is studying to be a lead singer in the caro (choir). Violetta longs to live outside of the gates of the orphanage. One night, when only 5 or 6, gazing out her window, Violetta sees a young mother put her son into the wheel leading into the orphanage. Violetta is aghast at a mother leaving her son. Violetta vows that she will never become a mother. She studies the woman and commits her to memory. The woman is softly singing a song which Violetta never forgets. Years later, Violetta is up on the roof of the orphanage. Mino, a boy from the orphanage comes to the roof as well. Violetta recognizes that Mino is the boy that was abandoned years ago. They begin a friendship. Their friendship grows to love. However, their love is overshadowed by the fear that Violetta harbors that she would abandon a child. Through a series of missteps, Mino and Violetta lose each other. Life goes on, until one day,Violetta learns the truth about Mino's parents. She has to find him and tell him.
This is a story of heartache, secrets, and redemption.
I enjoyed the story. However, there were too many coincidences in the book for it to be considered great. It was a relatively quick read. I would read more from this author.
#TheOrphansSong #LaurenKate ( )

Review coming soon... ( )

I don’t have much to say it was an interesting storyline but a typical romance. I enjoyed it but as I always do with romances felt the ending was cliche and predictable.
Romance lovers will love it, the setting in Venice is pretty A material in my opinion though!

A historical fiction taking place in Venice in the 1700s. A sweeping love story of music and family. The orphans of the Incurables- the best choir in Venice with strict rules and eligibility. Mino and Violetta share a secret friendship as children and as they grow up there oaths take different turns, as boys orphans leave on scholarships and the girls compete for the coro. But there is a secret that haunts them and a song that draws them back together.

Big thanks to @putnambooks via @netgalley for the ARC- this book comes out June 25th ( )

This novel, set in eighteenth-century Venice, is told by two narrators – Mino and Violetta. They’re both orphans, raised in the House of the Incurables. [As the author explains, the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice was originally a hospital and orphanage for foundling children, dating back to the sixteenth century. For hundreds of years the Incurables took in orphans and raised them to be musicians. . . . "The Incurables was the original music conservatory."]

Violetta always felt a connection to Mino. Although girls and boys were kept separate, Violetta saw Mino’s mother leave him at the door of the Ospedale. Years later, when they were both sixteen, they began to meet secretly since they both had the habit of sneaking up to the roof to observe life outside the Ospedale.

The time in which this story occurs is one of the more interesting in the history of Vienna. Venetians wore masks not just during the pre-Lenten Carnivale period but year-round, enabling them to carry out all sorts of activities (such as extra-marital affairs) without being identified. [The carnival, popularly known as Carnevale di Venezia in Italy, is still held annually in Venice and lasts approximately three weeks.]

Violetta, watching it all from the rooftop, always wanted to be a part of it. Although she had ambitions for a career as a soprano with the “Coro,” or choir, of the Incurables, she also had desires and dreams that extended beyond its walls. Alas, the two seemed to be incompatible: girls who were selected for the Coro had to vow ten years of performance, and swear that if they ever left the Incurables to marry, they would never play or sing in public.

After Mino left the Incurables to apprentice for a job, Violetta was envious, and managed to find a way to sidestep her vows and get everything she wanted. Or so it seemed. Neither Mino or Violetta could forget the other, and this determined the paths they took in their lives. Having been abandoned by their parents had shaped them as well, and both had a lot to learn not only about the price of freedom, but about what love really meant.

Mino came to understand, “Life was like music; if you changed a single note, you changed the entire song." For her part, Violetta finally realized love means not trying to change someone else's imperfections, but making them sing.

Evaluation: The rich atmosphere of Venice, both glamorous and decadent, helps transform this story about loss and love into something more intriguing. I would have liked more development of the surprising twist at the end, but the decision by the author not to expand on it will leave much for book clubs to discuss. ( )