The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable: Anna Maria della Pieta was brought up in a Venetian orphanage, where unwanted babies were posted to the nuns through a slot in the wall. This was in the early 18th century, and by the age of eight she was widely recognized as a musical prodigy with an ambition to become the best violinist and composer that Venice had ever seen. Her tutor at the time was Antonio Vivaldi, who may have appropriated her compositions as his own and denied her the limelight in which he was used to shining. Rich with the atmosphere of Venice of the time, and radiant with musicality, this is terrific. 

A Very French Affair by Maria Hoyle. Maria is a Kiwi in her 60’s who was dating but not finding lasting happiness and then met a guy whom she saw only a few times before he suggested she move to live with him in France where he was going to live in a mill by a river in a tiny French village. What could possibly go wrong? This is  a highly entertaining romance in the beloved style of A Year in Provence, about grabbing life with both hands whatever your age, what it means to belong, the joys and frustrations of French living, and why you should always look closely at a map before emigrating. Ultimately, though, it is a story about the greatest adventure of all. Love. 

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