About the Author

Donna Jo Napoli is a professor of linguistics and author of many distinguished books for young readers. Daughter of Venice was inspired by some research she did into the education of wealthy women in sixteenth-century Italy. "Most of these women grew up economically privileged, unlike me, but I connected with their stories because education opened up my world, just as it opened theirs," she says. A dual citizen of the USA and Italy, Donna lives in Pennsylvania, USA.

Reviews

"* "Napoli writes with vigour and compassion... the novel thrums with historical detail and feminist ardour." The Independent on Sunday * "A superbly researched, richly textured novel." Celia Rees, author of Witch Child * "An absorbing tale of courage." The Bookseller"

"* "Napoli writes with vigour and compassion... the novel thrums with historical detail and feminist ardour." The Independent on Sunday * "A superbly researched, richly textured novel." Celia Rees, author of Witch Child * "An absorbing tale of courage." The Bookseller"

Gr 7-10-As the daughter of a Venetian nobleman in 1592, 14-year-old Donata lives a sheltered and prescribed life. According to custom, her oldest sister will marry, either she or her identical twin Laura will stay home as the maiden aunt to care for her brother's children, and the other will go to a convent with their younger sisters. The girls spend their days doing chores, winding yarn onto giant bobbins for the family's wool trade, studying music, or going to parties where their oldest sister is examined as a marriage prospect. All that changes the day Donata dons boy's clothing and goes exploring outside the walls of the family's palazzo. Evading a bully, she ends up in the Jewish ghetto where she befriends a young man, No, who makes her question the privileges of her class, and at the same time she gains permission from her father to start studying with her brothers' tutor. When her parents announce a surprise betrothal that will curtail her studies and leave Laura convent-bound, Donata takes an action that drastically affects the whole family. While a current trend in historical fiction presents a girl with modern sensibilities chafing under the strict rules of her time, nothing about Donata seems forced. Even when acting rebelliously, her actions and thoughts feel authentic to the time and world that Napoli portrays. Even Donata's love for No is tempered by the knowledge that she could never convert to Judaism. Napoli's many fans will not be disappointed by this engrossing and exotic novel.-Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.