Susan Parisi

This is a beautifully crafted story of horror, set during Carnavale in Venice in the year of 1762. Stylistically, a tad too Jeanette Winterson for my taste, but I can see that it is a fabulously crafted story, and would have no hesitation in recommending it to people. The horror is subtle, and grows slowly, as the gradual destruction of a young life unfolds. This book has ticks in all *my* measures of a good book - subtle world building, strong characterisation (even the bit parts come across as fully realised characters), sufficient attention to detail so that I really believe in the location the story is set, tidy plot, careful pacing… (meer)