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Venetian Vespers
A masterful, enthralling new novel from the Booker Prize winner
Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me . . .
1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman--a hack, by his own description -- marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch’s death, leads to her disinheritance.
The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo. From their first moments at the palazzo, a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn’s already frayed nerves disintegrate could it be the mist blanketing the floating city, or is he losing his mind?
Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric noir with a surprise around every cobwebbed a fitting return by one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.
Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me . . .
1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman--a hack, by his own description -- marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch’s death, leads to her disinheritance.
The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo. From their first moments at the palazzo, a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn’s already frayed nerves disintegrate could it be the mist blanketing the floating city, or is he losing his mind?
Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric noir with a surprise around every cobwebbed a fitting return by one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.
350 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 2025
559 people are currently reading
4480 people want to read
About the author
John Banville
133 books2,388 followersWilliam John Banville is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W.B. Yeats and Henry James are the two real influences on his work.
Banville has won the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the 2003 International Nonino Prize, the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Italy made him a Cavaliere of the Ordine della Stella d'Italia (essentially a knighthood) in 2017. He is a former member of Aosdána, having voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer.
Banville was born and grew up in Wexford town in south-east Ireland. He published his first novel, Nightspawn, in 1971. A second, Birchwood, followed two years later. "The Revolutions Trilogy", published between 1976 and 1982, comprises three works, each named in reference to a renowned scientist: Doctor Copernicus, Kepler and The Newton Letter. His next work, Mefisto, had a mathematical theme. His 1989 novel The Book of Evidence, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of that year's Guinness Peat Aviation award, heralded a second trilogy, three works which deal in common with the work of art. "The Frames Trilogy" is completed by Ghosts and Athena, both published during the 1990s. Banville's thirteenth novel, The Sea, won the Booker Prize in 2005. In addition, he publishes crime novels as Benjamin Black — most of these feature the character of Quirke, an Irish pathologist based in Dublin.
Banville is considered a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He lives in Dublin.
Banville has won the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the 2003 International Nonino Prize, the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Italy made him a Cavaliere of the Ordine della Stella d'Italia (essentially a knighthood) in 2017. He is a former member of Aosdána, having voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer.
Banville was born and grew up in Wexford town in south-east Ireland. He published his first novel, Nightspawn, in 1971. A second, Birchwood, followed two years later. "The Revolutions Trilogy", published between 1976 and 1982, comprises three works, each named in reference to a renowned scientist: Doctor Copernicus, Kepler and The Newton Letter. His next work, Mefisto, had a mathematical theme. His 1989 novel The Book of Evidence, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of that year's Guinness Peat Aviation award, heralded a second trilogy, three works which deal in common with the work of art. "The Frames Trilogy" is completed by Ghosts and Athena, both published during the 1990s. Banville's thirteenth novel, The Sea, won the Booker Prize in 2005. In addition, he publishes crime novels as Benjamin Black — most of these feature the character of Quirke, an Irish pathologist based in Dublin.
Banville is considered a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He lives in Dublin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
December 4, 2025
It's an interesting experience reading a book in which an author so thoroughly despises his protagonist. Evelyn Dolman functions as a checklist of unpleasant traits: humorless, uptight, cranky, snobby, suspicious, pretentious, excruciatingly small-minded, judgmental of everything and everyone around him. Venice is a slum of grime and rot to him. People are insects. He lacks even the wit that could make his extreme misanthropy at least somewhat amusing. Really, it is beyond misanthropy; life itself appears worthy of disdain to the miserable Evelyn. He is a null, lacking even the ferocious self-loathing that somewhat enlivens Dostoevsky's anti-hero Underground Man.
Fortunately, he lives in a frequently amusing and always absorbing book. This was not a slog. Banville is a marvelous writer, and a sly and clever assassin as well, remorselessly setting up his protagonist. The prose is carefully calibrated, Jamesian, given to frequent flourishes of striking imagery but always anchored by its dry, deadpan tone; the narrative has an inevitability to it, a doom barely glimpsed, the sense that this is a trap that is waiting to be sprung; except for Evelyn himself, the characterization is layered, intriguing in its opacity, hinting at sinister depths. The attractive trio who are pulling his strings - deceptive twins who lead him on and, briefly, a wife who always appears to be silently laughing at him - fascinated me as much as they fascinate our tedious hero.
This is a gorgeously constructed trap built for a pompous little mouse.
Why write a book about a person you only want to humiliate and ruin? It is a strange decision. Banville does such a brilliant job at making Evelyn so completely worthless that I, like the author, rooted for his downfall. I sneered at his cluelessness, much like his wife. I wanted him mocked and tricked by the twins and all of the supporting cast, and he was, again and again. I was somehow put in the position of having a cruel and sadistic perspective on Evelyn. Banville expertly puppeteered me; I gloated ghoulishly, as intended. An odd and not very pleasing position to be put in. My inner empath insists I'm better than that. But alas, I wasn't.
Synopsis: while on his honeymoon, an asshole receives his just reward.
Fortunately, he lives in a frequently amusing and always absorbing book. This was not a slog. Banville is a marvelous writer, and a sly and clever assassin as well, remorselessly setting up his protagonist. The prose is carefully calibrated, Jamesian, given to frequent flourishes of striking imagery but always anchored by its dry, deadpan tone; the narrative has an inevitability to it, a doom barely glimpsed, the sense that this is a trap that is waiting to be sprung; except for Evelyn himself, the characterization is layered, intriguing in its opacity, hinting at sinister depths. The attractive trio who are pulling his strings - deceptive twins who lead him on and, briefly, a wife who always appears to be silently laughing at him - fascinated me as much as they fascinate our tedious hero.
This is a gorgeously constructed trap built for a pompous little mouse.
Why write a book about a person you only want to humiliate and ruin? It is a strange decision. Banville does such a brilliant job at making Evelyn so completely worthless that I, like the author, rooted for his downfall. I sneered at his cluelessness, much like his wife. I wanted him mocked and tricked by the twins and all of the supporting cast, and he was, again and again. I was somehow put in the position of having a cruel and sadistic perspective on Evelyn. Banville expertly puppeteered me; I gloated ghoulishly, as intended. An odd and not very pleasing position to be put in. My inner empath insists I'm better than that. But alas, I wasn't.
Synopsis: while on his honeymoon, an asshole receives his just reward.
October 28, 2025
Evelyn Dolman is a self-satisfied English guidebook writer who confuses pomposity for intellect and desire for romance. He arrives in Venice with his chilly, elusive wife, Laura, a woman whose affections seem to evaporate at the first sight of sunlight, and promptly begins to sink, both morally and geographically.
Dolman rents rooms in a decrepit palazzo owned by Count Barbarigo, a man who seems carved from candlewax and self-regard. The Count greets them with a 'weary smile' and the kind of hospitality that could double as extortion. His servant, Beppo, slithers through the mist with 'a lizard-like tongue darting through a gap in his teeth,' while the barefoot maid, Rosalia, drifts about like temptation in an apron.
Before long, the couple encounter Cesca and her brother, a pair of dubious aristocrats whose moral footing is slipperier than the pavement outside St. Mark's after rain. Cesca, all fluttering lashes and well-rehearsed despair, makes Dolman feel like a Renaissance hero, though he more closely resembles a footnote in one of his own guidebooks. Her brother, posing as Dolman's old schoolmate, could sell fog to Venetians and make change.
Cesca's talent for half-truths is both an art form and a public service. She gives Dolman precisely what he craves: the illusion that corruption is romance. He succumbs, of course, first in imagination, then in body, mistaking his moral implosion for emotional depth. Laura, meanwhile, grows colder, quieter, and somehow more American.
Banville turns Dolman's collapse into a travelogue of vanity. The man who once catalogued cathedral spires now records the architecture of his own undoing. He marvels that Venice 'glowed like the puffball-heads of dandelions,' then proceeds to crumble just as prettily. When calamity finally arrives, it tiptoes in wearing silk gloves. Dolman greets it as though it were another fine example of continental culture.
The prose gleams with malicious beauty. Every sentence seems to have been ironed by the devil's valet. Banville writes with the voluptuous precision of someone who knows adjectives are deadlier than verbs. The story's decadence seeps into your souls like humidity. Dolman may call himself a man of letters, but every page reveals him as a man of delusions.
Banville's style feels haunted by literary royalty: James for the psychology, Nabokov for the perversion, Salinger for the confessional vanity, Proust for the perfumed decay, Conrad for the moral shipwreck, and Beckett for the dry chuckle afterward. Yet somehow, through all that lineage, Banville emerges as his own peculiar beast, equal parts stylist and sadist.
This is my second Banville. I hated Ghosts. I thought it was dreadful, a pompous séance conducted by an author in love with his own voice. Venetian Vespers, however, is its magnificent opposite. It is biting, ornate, and wickedly alive. I absolutely loved it and recommend it wholeheartedly.
Dolman rents rooms in a decrepit palazzo owned by Count Barbarigo, a man who seems carved from candlewax and self-regard. The Count greets them with a 'weary smile' and the kind of hospitality that could double as extortion. His servant, Beppo, slithers through the mist with 'a lizard-like tongue darting through a gap in his teeth,' while the barefoot maid, Rosalia, drifts about like temptation in an apron.
Before long, the couple encounter Cesca and her brother, a pair of dubious aristocrats whose moral footing is slipperier than the pavement outside St. Mark's after rain. Cesca, all fluttering lashes and well-rehearsed despair, makes Dolman feel like a Renaissance hero, though he more closely resembles a footnote in one of his own guidebooks. Her brother, posing as Dolman's old schoolmate, could sell fog to Venetians and make change.
Cesca's talent for half-truths is both an art form and a public service. She gives Dolman precisely what he craves: the illusion that corruption is romance. He succumbs, of course, first in imagination, then in body, mistaking his moral implosion for emotional depth. Laura, meanwhile, grows colder, quieter, and somehow more American.
Banville turns Dolman's collapse into a travelogue of vanity. The man who once catalogued cathedral spires now records the architecture of his own undoing. He marvels that Venice 'glowed like the puffball-heads of dandelions,' then proceeds to crumble just as prettily. When calamity finally arrives, it tiptoes in wearing silk gloves. Dolman greets it as though it were another fine example of continental culture.
The prose gleams with malicious beauty. Every sentence seems to have been ironed by the devil's valet. Banville writes with the voluptuous precision of someone who knows adjectives are deadlier than verbs. The story's decadence seeps into your souls like humidity. Dolman may call himself a man of letters, but every page reveals him as a man of delusions.
Banville's style feels haunted by literary royalty: James for the psychology, Nabokov for the perversion, Salinger for the confessional vanity, Proust for the perfumed decay, Conrad for the moral shipwreck, and Beckett for the dry chuckle afterward. Yet somehow, through all that lineage, Banville emerges as his own peculiar beast, equal parts stylist and sadist.
This is my second Banville. I hated Ghosts. I thought it was dreadful, a pompous séance conducted by an author in love with his own voice. Venetian Vespers, however, is its magnificent opposite. It is biting, ornate, and wickedly alive. I absolutely loved it and recommend it wholeheartedly.
October 12, 2025
Evelyn Dolman, a mediocre writer, has married Laura Rensellaer, an heiress. Since the marriage, Laura's father has died but the fortune has been left to her sister, Thomasina, and now Laura has booked a trip to Venice for a belated honeymoon, which Evelyn has had no part in arranging.
Laura's behaviour becomes increasingly distant as the days go on and by the time they arrive in Venice, relations between the two are strained to breaking point. Evelyn has had enough, heads out on their first night for a quick drink and very quickly finds himself being taken charge of by a curious but attractive brother and sister. What do they have in store for Evelyn and what is really going on?
If I hadn't known this book was written by John Banville, I would never have guessed. The characters are irritating, the "action" circuitous and I found Evelyn's constant breaking off to recap what had just happened, extremely annoying.
This novel could have easily been half the length because of the repetition, almost as if the reader was suffering from short term memory loss.
Ultimately, I found it dull and boring and even the twist at the end couldn't save it. This book really wasn't for me.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.
Laura's behaviour becomes increasingly distant as the days go on and by the time they arrive in Venice, relations between the two are strained to breaking point. Evelyn has had enough, heads out on their first night for a quick drink and very quickly finds himself being taken charge of by a curious but attractive brother and sister. What do they have in store for Evelyn and what is really going on?
If I hadn't known this book was written by John Banville, I would never have guessed. The characters are irritating, the "action" circuitous and I found Evelyn's constant breaking off to recap what had just happened, extremely annoying.
This novel could have easily been half the length because of the repetition, almost as if the reader was suffering from short term memory loss.
Ultimately, I found it dull and boring and even the twist at the end couldn't save it. This book really wasn't for me.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.
October 15, 2025
In 1899, English author Evelyn Dolman marries the wealthy American heiress Laura Rensselaer. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter Laura’s father dies in an accident and Evelyn learns that Laura has been disinherited. The couple is not completely impoverished. They still own a house in London and are rich enough to rent part of a huge palazzo in Venice, to which Laura insists they retreat. We learn everything that transpired from the point of view of Evelyn, who wants to set the record straight about a mysterious death that occurred in Venice that winter. It takes a long time for the reader to find out who dies.
The palazzo has a creepy air about and everyone in it seems a little off. Evelyn meets an old schoolmate who is drifting (or grifting) around Europe with his sister, and Evelyn becomes fixated on the beautiful sister. I had to feel sorry for Evelyn, even though he exhibited some serious character flaws. He had an appalling willingness to be conned and debauched. I found the language in this book delicious and the twists clever. There was a taste of the movies The Servant and Gaslight. Luke Thompson did an excellent job narrating the audiobook. I really enjoyed this book.
The palazzo has a creepy air about and everyone in it seems a little off. Evelyn meets an old schoolmate who is drifting (or grifting) around Europe with his sister, and Evelyn becomes fixated on the beautiful sister. I had to feel sorry for Evelyn, even though he exhibited some serious character flaws. He had an appalling willingness to be conned and debauched. I found the language in this book delicious and the twists clever. There was a taste of the movies The Servant and Gaslight. Luke Thompson did an excellent job narrating the audiobook. I really enjoyed this book.
September 27, 2025
Evelyn Dolman’s initial impression of Venice is not of a romantic city, but of a gloomy, cold and damp place hardly worthy of the title ‘La Serenissima’. For him, it’s a place of ‘glancing lights, distorting reflections, looming shadows’.
Venice was not his choice of location for their belated honeymoon but that of his wife Laura. Strangely, on arrival at their lodgings, the many-roomed but gently decaying Palazzo Dioscuri owned by the flamboyant but sinister Count Barbarigo, Laura seems to have no interest in exploring the city. Instead she urges Evelyn to go out on his own.
Arriving at the famous Cafe Florian he meets Freddie who says he went to the same school as Evelyn although, strangely, Evelyn has no memory of him. Freddie introduces Evelyn to his twin sister Francesca, known as Cesca, and Evelyn is instantly smitten by her beauty and wit. Harry and Cesca live a vagabond lifestyle, travelling from place to place and relying, Evelyn suspects, on the generosity of others to fund it. They persuade him to join them for a long series of nightcaps, introducing him to that powerful spirit, grappa.
The first six months of Evelyn and Laura’s marriage have not been a success. Laura rebuffs Evelyn’s sexual advances and in fact seems completely indifferent to him. It has become a source of increasing frustration which leads him in his drunken state to carry out an uncharacteristic act of violence. By the time he awakens the next morning, riven with guilt, Laura has disappeared without trace.
What follows sees Evelyn caught in a web of deceit, increasingly wondering if he can trust those around him or indeed trust in his own sanity. Unwilling to confess his actions prior to Laura’s disappearance, he attempts to hide her absence until the charade is unsustainable and he becomes the object of suspicion. Evelyn is a pompous figure, full of misplaced self-importance, but this hides a deep insecurity. We, the reader, sense fairly quickly that he is being manipulated, but to what end and by whom?
In the author’s hands, Venice is a place of damp, decay and menace in which no-one is quite what they seem. There’s a deliciously sinister atmosphere, with strange occurrences that might be supernatural or might be the work of human hands. There’s a pervasive sexuality to the story whether that’s the Count’s lascivious maid or Cesca’s teasing allure.
Venetian Vespers is an entertainingly sinister tale which effortlessly captures the style of the period in which it is set. Perfect for cold autumn nights.
Venice was not his choice of location for their belated honeymoon but that of his wife Laura. Strangely, on arrival at their lodgings, the many-roomed but gently decaying Palazzo Dioscuri owned by the flamboyant but sinister Count Barbarigo, Laura seems to have no interest in exploring the city. Instead she urges Evelyn to go out on his own.
Arriving at the famous Cafe Florian he meets Freddie who says he went to the same school as Evelyn although, strangely, Evelyn has no memory of him. Freddie introduces Evelyn to his twin sister Francesca, known as Cesca, and Evelyn is instantly smitten by her beauty and wit. Harry and Cesca live a vagabond lifestyle, travelling from place to place and relying, Evelyn suspects, on the generosity of others to fund it. They persuade him to join them for a long series of nightcaps, introducing him to that powerful spirit, grappa.
The first six months of Evelyn and Laura’s marriage have not been a success. Laura rebuffs Evelyn’s sexual advances and in fact seems completely indifferent to him. It has become a source of increasing frustration which leads him in his drunken state to carry out an uncharacteristic act of violence. By the time he awakens the next morning, riven with guilt, Laura has disappeared without trace.
What follows sees Evelyn caught in a web of deceit, increasingly wondering if he can trust those around him or indeed trust in his own sanity. Unwilling to confess his actions prior to Laura’s disappearance, he attempts to hide her absence until the charade is unsustainable and he becomes the object of suspicion. Evelyn is a pompous figure, full of misplaced self-importance, but this hides a deep insecurity. We, the reader, sense fairly quickly that he is being manipulated, but to what end and by whom?
In the author’s hands, Venice is a place of damp, decay and menace in which no-one is quite what they seem. There’s a deliciously sinister atmosphere, with strange occurrences that might be supernatural or might be the work of human hands. There’s a pervasive sexuality to the story whether that’s the Count’s lascivious maid or Cesca’s teasing allure.
Venetian Vespers is an entertainingly sinister tale which effortlessly captures the style of the period in which it is set. Perfect for cold autumn nights.
November 2, 2025
John Banville is a literary legend and I was really looking forward to this book. It is a lush setting with atmospheric writing. The character development was flawless and the characters were insufferable which I normally don't mind. The unhappy marriage and a missing wife should have been very compelling but I honestly found it mundane in many parts. The glorious prose bumped it up to three stars which means I liked it but probably won't recommend even though I usually recommend three stars books.
October 3, 2025
In winter 1899, on the cusp of a new century, Evelyn Dolman and his wife, Laura, set off on a honeymoon to Venice, delayed for some months due to the unexpected death of Laura’s father, a superwealthy tycoon. Evelyn had been aware that his new bride and her father had some unresolved issue between them, but he is astonished to learn that the tycoon has left all his money to his other daughter. Laura still has a generous allowance, but Evelyn had anticipated fabulous wealth. ‘Generous’ is a major disappointment. Laura has been disappointing in other ways too – they have only had sex once, and that was long before they married. It’s doubtful if Evelyn still loves her – indeed, if he ever did. Telling his story in retrospect long afterwards, Evelyn foreshadows that the Venice trip will end with a woman dead and him embroiled in scandal, and his purpose now is to set the record straight…
Don’t for one moment feel sorry for him! If anyone earned a ticket to hell, it’s Evelyn. He takes unlikeability to new levels, and instead becomes deliciously horrid – another narcissistic self-justifier to add to Banville’s illustrious list. He is so convinced that he was the victim of this story that he doesn’t seem to realise he’s condemning himself with every word he speaks. Banville is brilliant at putting this kind of moral ambiguity into his characters, and here he muddies the waters still further by leaving the reader unsure of Evelyn’s reliability as narrator – there’s a distinct whiff of madness around him, but did that happen before the events in Venice or is it a consequence of them?
Banville writes like a dream, and his depiction of Venice is both vivid and funny. It’s winter, and therefore cold, wet, and grey. Forget beauty or romance – this Venice is a place of swampy miasmas, every building is dusty, decaying, crumbling, every inhabitant is sinister, be they Venetian or visitor. As Banville piles on the adjectives, Venice becomes a place of menace and mystery, and no one can be taken at face value. I felt strongly that Banville was playing with the swampy, fever-ridden Venice created in Mann’s Death in Venice, both in the depiction of the city and in the character of Evelyn, although his sexual obsessions are of a different nature. The palazzo that the honeymooners are staying in owes something, I felt, to Henry James and The Aspern Papers, along with the depiction of decayed aristocracy seeking money from gullible foreigners in return for allowing them to share in the faded glory of these once great buildings. Evelyn is a writer, one who wanted to shake the world, but is best known for a series of travel guides to lesser English towns. The list he gives of authors he wanted to surpass is revealing!
On their first night, Evelyn, frustrated by the lack of sex in the relationship, goes out and gets drunk, returns, and does something unforgivable that suddenly darkens the story and cements the reader’s dislike for him irrevocably, though he seems to feel he’s managing to justify himself. Next morning, he wakes up to find his wife has gone. From there on, the story takes on a kind of surreal air – Evelyn’s reaction to Laura’s disappearance is strange indeed. The night before he had met a man who claimed to have been at school with him, though Evelyn doesn’t remember him. This man, Frederick Fitzherbert, has a beautiful sister, Francesca, and Evelyn seems considerably more interested in her than in finding Laura. But are the Fitzherberts quite what they claim? Even Evelyn thinks they may be conning him in some way, but that doesn’t stop him from inviting them to come and stay in the palazzo. Meantime, he tells no one that Laura is missing, pretending she’s just popped out or has retreated to her room with a headache to explain her absence when anyone asks.
I don’t want to go any deeper into the story, to avoid spoilers. Despite the dark episode I referred to, the overall tone is of light entertainment, where the initial foreshadowing of a woman’s death and a scandal has the reader looking at every woman who appears and wondering – is it her? While some parts of it are rather more obvious to the reader than to self-deluded Evelyn, the mystery kept me intrigued throughout – Banville gives enough for us to have the pleasure of trying to work out what’s going on, but holds back just enough to allow room for some surprises. And yet – is all explained at the end? Evelyn would say so, but this reader felt that the version he gives may not be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…
I love these twisted, narcissistic narrators Banville does so brilliantly, I love his playful use of language and vocabulary, I love his exaggeratedly sinister and decaying depiction of Venice, and I love the way he is playing with previous Venetian literary classics. In short, I loved this book – wonderfully written and highly entertaining, but with enough darkness and depth to give it bite. I seem to have spent a lot of fictional time in Venice recently, and this trip is undoubtedly up there with the best.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Faber and Faber via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
And I trust that my version of this desperate affair will be accepted at face value and not mistaken for the greenery-yallery ravings of some aesthetical absinthe-imbibing décadent of the kind whose vapourings used to be found splattered across the pages of such degenerate and now happily defunct journals as The Yellow Book and The Savoy. Oh, yes – see me rubbing my hands, see my vengeful grin. When one has been through hell, the burnt flesh burns on.
Don’t for one moment feel sorry for him! If anyone earned a ticket to hell, it’s Evelyn. He takes unlikeability to new levels, and instead becomes deliciously horrid – another narcissistic self-justifier to add to Banville’s illustrious list. He is so convinced that he was the victim of this story that he doesn’t seem to realise he’s condemning himself with every word he speaks. Banville is brilliant at putting this kind of moral ambiguity into his characters, and here he muddies the waters still further by leaving the reader unsure of Evelyn’s reliability as narrator – there’s a distinct whiff of madness around him, but did that happen before the events in Venice or is it a consequence of them?
Banville writes like a dream, and his depiction of Venice is both vivid and funny. It’s winter, and therefore cold, wet, and grey. Forget beauty or romance – this Venice is a place of swampy miasmas, every building is dusty, decaying, crumbling, every inhabitant is sinister, be they Venetian or visitor. As Banville piles on the adjectives, Venice becomes a place of menace and mystery, and no one can be taken at face value. I felt strongly that Banville was playing with the swampy, fever-ridden Venice created in Mann’s Death in Venice, both in the depiction of the city and in the character of Evelyn, although his sexual obsessions are of a different nature. The palazzo that the honeymooners are staying in owes something, I felt, to Henry James and The Aspern Papers, along with the depiction of decayed aristocracy seeking money from gullible foreigners in return for allowing them to share in the faded glory of these once great buildings. Evelyn is a writer, one who wanted to shake the world, but is best known for a series of travel guides to lesser English towns. The list he gives of authors he wanted to surpass is revealing!
On their first night, Evelyn, frustrated by the lack of sex in the relationship, goes out and gets drunk, returns, and does something unforgivable that suddenly darkens the story and cements the reader’s dislike for him irrevocably, though he seems to feel he’s managing to justify himself. Next morning, he wakes up to find his wife has gone. From there on, the story takes on a kind of surreal air – Evelyn’s reaction to Laura’s disappearance is strange indeed. The night before he had met a man who claimed to have been at school with him, though Evelyn doesn’t remember him. This man, Frederick Fitzherbert, has a beautiful sister, Francesca, and Evelyn seems considerably more interested in her than in finding Laura. But are the Fitzherberts quite what they claim? Even Evelyn thinks they may be conning him in some way, but that doesn’t stop him from inviting them to come and stay in the palazzo. Meantime, he tells no one that Laura is missing, pretending she’s just popped out or has retreated to her room with a headache to explain her absence when anyone asks.
I don’t want to go any deeper into the story, to avoid spoilers. Despite the dark episode I referred to, the overall tone is of light entertainment, where the initial foreshadowing of a woman’s death and a scandal has the reader looking at every woman who appears and wondering – is it her? While some parts of it are rather more obvious to the reader than to self-deluded Evelyn, the mystery kept me intrigued throughout – Banville gives enough for us to have the pleasure of trying to work out what’s going on, but holds back just enough to allow room for some surprises. And yet – is all explained at the end? Evelyn would say so, but this reader felt that the version he gives may not be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…
I love these twisted, narcissistic narrators Banville does so brilliantly, I love his playful use of language and vocabulary, I love his exaggeratedly sinister and decaying depiction of Venice, and I love the way he is playing with previous Venetian literary classics. In short, I loved this book – wonderfully written and highly entertaining, but with enough darkness and depth to give it bite. I seem to have spent a lot of fictional time in Venice recently, and this trip is undoubtedly up there with the best.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Faber and Faber via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
October 9, 2025
Hmmmm. Well... hmmmm.
I can't give Banville fewer than three stars. I just can't. Banville's writing is just too strong. And one doesn't necessarily go to a Banville novel for plot, but when a plot is teased and then barely seems important, it feels like a disappointment.
There are wonderful elements to this novel: a touch of mystery, a little of the eerie, some classic/Henry James-esque aspects, and even the fun of a nasty little narrator.
Yet it just doesn't really add up to anything for me. Other than a nice little novel. Maybe I should have saved it for a couple of cold, winter days with tea. Snow on the ground, blanket on lap.
I can't give Banville fewer than three stars. I just can't. Banville's writing is just too strong. And one doesn't necessarily go to a Banville novel for plot, but when a plot is teased and then barely seems important, it feels like a disappointment.
There are wonderful elements to this novel: a touch of mystery, a little of the eerie, some classic/Henry James-esque aspects, and even the fun of a nasty little narrator.
Yet it just doesn't really add up to anything for me. Other than a nice little novel. Maybe I should have saved it for a couple of cold, winter days with tea. Snow on the ground, blanket on lap.
June 27, 2025
The Book of Names; The Book of Twins
John Banville’s latest: set (mostly) in a wintry, sinister Venice in 1899, where the narrator, a hack writer called Evelyn Dolman is taking a honeymoon sojourn with his new wife, the American heiress, Laura Rensselaer.
The narrative is fantastical, nightmarish, bizarre; the city of Venice, ‘that pestilential town lodged in the fetid crotch of the Adriatic’. Gloom and mystery abound: ‘dusk, a deserted room, a scrap of black silk on a marble table, a darkening sea beyond’.
Dolman is a cipher, a pawn, all at sea in the presence of an indifferent wife, a born victim, imagining himself much more intelligent than he is. But don’t feel sorry for him. He is mean-minded, treacherous and violent – it’s hard to sympathise with what happens to him. Though, bad as Dolman is, most of the other participants are much, much worse.
He commits dreadful violence on his wife; she disappears; two Anglo-Irish rogues move into the Palazzo, rented by the newly-weds; the police become desultorily involved.
Much fun is played with the characters’ names throughout. Dolman means slow-witted or obtuse; Evelyn, one of those ambiguous English names, both masculine and feminine, emphasising the duality of his nature, active and passive. His wife, Laura, her name the heroine of Byron’s poem, ‘Beppo’. And of course there is a Beppo, the stereotypical Italian man servant of the Palazzo. And an Irish villain called Freddie! Of course, the reader recalls Freddie Montgomery, the amoral killer of ‘The Book of Evidence’. Then there is the rascally Count Barbarigo, owner of the Palazzo dei Dioscuri – a real Venetian noble family, but long extinct. The distinction between fiction and reality, hazy and imprecise.
The Palazzo dei Dioscuri, damp, labyrinthine, haunted, heralds another theme. The Dioscuri are Castor and Pollux, twins, not the Discobolos, the discus thrower, as the ignorant Dolman thinks. Twins are everywhere in the novel: the palazzo’s name, Freddie and Cesca FitzHerbert, Laura and Cesca look like twins, Laura’s sister’s name, Thomasina, means ‘twin’.
The plot is ingenious, a twisting, dark narrative, embodying a scam, the reader may sense throughout, but is still shocked when all is revealed, or so it seems, at the novel’s close.
John Banville’s latest: set (mostly) in a wintry, sinister Venice in 1899, where the narrator, a hack writer called Evelyn Dolman is taking a honeymoon sojourn with his new wife, the American heiress, Laura Rensselaer.
The narrative is fantastical, nightmarish, bizarre; the city of Venice, ‘that pestilential town lodged in the fetid crotch of the Adriatic’. Gloom and mystery abound: ‘dusk, a deserted room, a scrap of black silk on a marble table, a darkening sea beyond’.
Dolman is a cipher, a pawn, all at sea in the presence of an indifferent wife, a born victim, imagining himself much more intelligent than he is. But don’t feel sorry for him. He is mean-minded, treacherous and violent – it’s hard to sympathise with what happens to him. Though, bad as Dolman is, most of the other participants are much, much worse.
He commits dreadful violence on his wife; she disappears; two Anglo-Irish rogues move into the Palazzo, rented by the newly-weds; the police become desultorily involved.
Much fun is played with the characters’ names throughout. Dolman means slow-witted or obtuse; Evelyn, one of those ambiguous English names, both masculine and feminine, emphasising the duality of his nature, active and passive. His wife, Laura, her name the heroine of Byron’s poem, ‘Beppo’. And of course there is a Beppo, the stereotypical Italian man servant of the Palazzo. And an Irish villain called Freddie! Of course, the reader recalls Freddie Montgomery, the amoral killer of ‘The Book of Evidence’. Then there is the rascally Count Barbarigo, owner of the Palazzo dei Dioscuri – a real Venetian noble family, but long extinct. The distinction between fiction and reality, hazy and imprecise.
The Palazzo dei Dioscuri, damp, labyrinthine, haunted, heralds another theme. The Dioscuri are Castor and Pollux, twins, not the Discobolos, the discus thrower, as the ignorant Dolman thinks. Twins are everywhere in the novel: the palazzo’s name, Freddie and Cesca FitzHerbert, Laura and Cesca look like twins, Laura’s sister’s name, Thomasina, means ‘twin’.
The plot is ingenious, a twisting, dark narrative, embodying a scam, the reader may sense throughout, but is still shocked when all is revealed, or so it seems, at the novel’s close.
September 14, 2025
I was offered an advanced review copy of John Banville's Venetian Vespers. The book is set in 1899. It's protagonist is Evelyn Dolman. Evelyn has just married Laura Rensselaer, daughter of a wealthy American family. Together they travel from London to Venice, for their honeymoon. Right from the start the relationship does sound too good. And when they arrive in Venice, everything falls to pieces.
I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book. That is mainly because I totally hated Evelyn Dolman. Such a pathetic man. Even though the story is set in the late 1800s, and will probably depict the relationships between men and women as they were back then, I was totally disgusted by Evelyn.
PLEASE NOTE, SPOILERS BELOW
So Venetian Vespers was most definitely not for me. It did bring me one good thing though: Claudio Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin), which is a beautiful piece of music.
I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book. That is mainly because I totally hated Evelyn Dolman. Such a pathetic man. Even though the story is set in the late 1800s, and will probably depict the relationships between men and women as they were back then, I was totally disgusted by Evelyn.
PLEASE NOTE, SPOILERS BELOW
So Venetian Vespers was most definitely not for me. It did bring me one good thing though: Claudio Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin), which is a beautiful piece of music.
August 20, 2025
I shall have to come clean and admit that this is the first John Banville book that I really have not enjoyed. The tone of the narrator is appropriate for the date set but kept reminding me of Dracula, the novel rather than the person, and could be quite convoluted at times. This is a mystery mainly sat in Venice.
I’m afraid that after about 50 pages I ended up skimming this novel and then reading the last 10 pages. Maybe this just wasn’t for me. Banville always writes very well but I just found that the narrator had a naivety and a sort of subtle whine of ‘poor me’ throughout. I didn’t really feel any sympathy for him. Maybe I was not supposed to.
I have read a lot of John Banville novels and can usually recommend them highly. I read an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publishers.
I’m afraid that after about 50 pages I ended up skimming this novel and then reading the last 10 pages. Maybe this just wasn’t for me. Banville always writes very well but I just found that the narrator had a naivety and a sort of subtle whine of ‘poor me’ throughout. I didn’t really feel any sympathy for him. Maybe I was not supposed to.
I have read a lot of John Banville novels and can usually recommend them highly. I read an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publishers.
October 25, 2025
About all I can say abut this book is that it draws a wonderful picture of Venice, mostly in the darker descriptions of nighttime activities. The characters and plot were completely unbelievable! 3*
December 24, 2025
I tried, DNF 40%. I have an idea of the big twist, but didn’t turn to the end to find out if I’m correct. If anyone makes it to the end and wants to message me, please do.
I don’t mind unlikeable characters in general, but boy oh boy, Evelyn our MC and first person narrator (ugh) is truly the pits. Big ego, boring, simple…by the time he rapes his wife I was done. My time is too precious to give any more to this person, even if they’re fictional.
I don’t mind unlikeable characters in general, but boy oh boy, Evelyn our MC and first person narrator (ugh) is truly the pits. Big ego, boring, simple…by the time he rapes his wife I was done. My time is too precious to give any more to this person, even if they’re fictional.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2025
A weak 3 stars…I don’t mind the oppressively gloomy, almost gothic tone, but the dull, wordy prose is hard to excuse, even if it’s perhaps intentional (the narrator is a grasping hack writer after all). The plot is thin for a 400+ page novel, and at the end the narrator is still struggling to make sense of it all…unfortunately, so is the reader. I’m sure Banville had fun writing this…who wouldn’t want to try their hand at a Wilkie Collins story as written (badly) by Henry James…but it isn’t much fun for the reader.
October 16, 2025
Banville’s writing is always impressive and in his other books I have always enjoyed the moments where we get the villain’s POV, he’s great at writing these narcissistic characters and in this book, the protagonist is a pathetic narcissist but… he doesn’t really get up to much!
December 1, 2025
This book would (and should) have been a fantastic short story. As a novel, it was bloated — I found myself skimming pages of beautiful but unnecessary prose. We get it: Venice in the winter is oppressive and creepy, and the narrator might be losing his mind. The whole book could be condensed to ~100 pages. The plot wasn’t exactly predictable, but it was certainly overwrought.
December 13, 2025
Started off with a bang. Extremely atmospheric and an homage to all the Venice set novels we’ve loved before, from James to DuMaurier. Unfortunately, for me at least, the plot was a great letdown. Slow and not particularly twisty.
October 23, 2025
DNF at 36%. Florid overblown prose, nothing much has happened other than going to Venice. The ultimate nail in the DNF for me was the florid overblown description of him trying to maritally rape his wife, and then the next day in the space of a few audiobook minutes, he refers to the assault first as a ravishment, then sees it from his wife’s perspective and wonders how he could have so foully abused her, and yet for all he had debauched the creature who should have been dearest to him in the world, he felt a sense of vindication in proving himself and his potency.
What the actual F. No. Thank god this was a library audio borrow and I’d not spent money on this as I nearly did.
What the actual F. No. Thank god this was a library audio borrow and I’d not spent money on this as I nearly did.
June 30, 2025
Set in a dark, disturbing Venice at the turn of the 19th century, John Banville has created a cast of unlikeable characters and a Venice with harks back to it's dangerous history. Evelyn Dolman is one of the most unlikeable 'victims' you will come across in fiction and although sees himself as intellectually superior he walks straight into an obvious scam. If there was a weakness for me it was that you could predict where this was heading in a weaker writer's hands it wouldn't work.
October 9, 2025
Evelyn Dorman and his new wife, Laura travel to Venice for their honeymoon in 1899. The whole book is narrated by Evelyn who reveals himself to be a totally unlikeable man so it’s hard to feel in any way upset for what follows!(actually all the characters are pretty awful). It’s a dramatic setting and mysterious atmosphere makes it almost a compulsive read without being really invested in the outcome.
November 7, 2025
This started off being floridly fun Victorian melodrama, and quickly became angsty and misogynistic and elliptical and painfully predictable. Self-aggrandizing egomaniac asshat writer Evelyn Dolman (I immediately pronounced him Evil-lyn Dullman) suddently and surprisingy marries wealthy, mysterious Laura Renselaer whose father dies and leaves his vast fortune to Laura's dowdy sister Thomasina. Laura insists on dragging the clueless Evelyn to Venice where her skanky friends live, and then disappears after Evelyn becomes violent. Wow, no one saw that coming.
Every element of this was entirely predictable, right down to the ending, and absolutely nothing was explained in any way, since the whole thing is narrated by Evelyn who thinks with his willy rather than his brain and in the end was interested only in getting out of Venice . Not sure why this was called Venetian Vespers as nobody did any actual praying. I was left with a list of half-hearted questions (like, why were each and every one of these characters so shockingly stupid? They all had the emotional intelligence of a bunch of middle schoolers.) Some passages were extremely upsetting - - and left a rancid impression. As well, we never really get to know Laura at all, and I was curious to know why she made such shockingly poor decisions. Yes, I know, Victorian women had no rights or advantages of any kind, that's true, but Laura just seemed to dig herself deeper and deeper into trouble as the book went on. A few reviews mentioned a plot twist but I never came across one that wasn't already predicted many times over. 2 1/2 stars
Every element of this was entirely predictable, right down to the ending, and absolutely nothing was explained in any way, since the whole thing is narrated by Evelyn who thinks with his willy rather than his brain and in the end was interested only in getting out of Venice . Not sure why this was called Venetian Vespers as nobody did any actual praying. I was left with a list of half-hearted questions (like, why were each and every one of these characters so shockingly stupid? They all had the emotional intelligence of a bunch of middle schoolers.) Some passages were extremely upsetting - - and left a rancid impression. As well, we never really get to know Laura at all, and I was curious to know why she made such shockingly poor decisions. Yes, I know, Victorian women had no rights or advantages of any kind, that's true, but Laura just seemed to dig herself deeper and deeper into trouble as the book went on. A few reviews mentioned a plot twist but I never came across one that wasn't already predicted many times over. 2 1/2 stars
October 30, 2025
I've never read John Banville before, but this had a strong Don't Look Now/Daphne du Maurier vibe that I loved. It seemed to me that he even acknowledged this slyly on page 285. If you're looking for a Gothic read for the fall, look no further.
December 14, 2025
I have read a couple dozen books written by this author and usually delight in them. This book was not so very satisfying for me. I suppose it could be partially due to having just read a weird book on Venice, but who knows? It was a long wait from the library, so I attacked the book immediately once available. I think perhaps I will continue to avoid traveling to Venice.
There are some pretty vague characters that make up this tale and I didn't like spending time with any of them.
Library Loan
There are some pretty vague characters that make up this tale and I didn't like spending time with any of them.
Library Loan
December 23, 2025
Gawd, this was a slog to get through. The plot twist at the end was anything but surprising, but at least the pace picked up in those last few dozen pages.
This is not how I imagined my introduction to John Banville!
This is not how I imagined my introduction to John Banville!
September 24, 2025
Venetian Vespers by John Banville publishes September 25th with Faber & Faber and is described as ‘this autumn’s eeriest novel’. Set in the swirling mists of Venice on the cusp of the 20th century, John Banville takes the reader on quite an unusual journey with a rather repulsive narrator.
‘There is no doubt of it, I deserved all I got. But as I have said, I must tell my poor sad story as it happened, not as I now remember it, with sorrow and bitter rue.’
Evelyn Dolman is a struggling writer who happens upon the opportunity of a lifetime when he receives a commission to write the biography of a very powerful and wealthy man, Thomas Willard (Twill) Rensselaer, who also happens to be his father-in-law. But very soon after his marriage to Laura Rensselaer, Thomas Willard Rensselaer is killed in a tragic riding accident. In the aftermath the family solicitor passes on the shocking news that Twill has disinherited his daughter, leaving Evelyn and Laura in a bit of a financial predicament. They had postponed their honeymoon, following Twill’s unfortunate demise, but when the aforementioned writing commission is subsequently withdrawn, Evelyn is left in disarray. Fortuitously, the Venetian trip had been agreed pre the death of Twill so, despite reservations on Evelyn’s part, they journey off-season in the grim darkness of winter to a damp and shadowy Venice.
On arrival in Venice neither Laura or Evelyn are in good spirits but, nevertheless, they check into their accommodation, a crumbling Palazzo off St. Mark’s Square. When Laura isn’t to be found the following morning, Evelyn’s world is torn asunder. Evelyn’s shocking behaviour the previous evening is reason enough for Laura to disappear but, in complete denial and in an act of horrendous self-righteousness, Evelyn begins to justify his actions (Please note that the incident in question will be a trigger for some readers so do please proceed with care)
Over the next twenty four hours, Evelyn befriends two individuals who captivate and confuse him in equal measure yet he ends up inviting them to stay at the Palazzo while they sort themselves out. With Laura seemingly after disappearing, Evelyn gets sucked into quite a perverse and extraordinary situation, which he describes as ‘a moving stage…a steadily darkening drama’.
Evelyn Dolman’s behaviour is abhorrent. He is an overbearing, pretentious character with no appealing trait to his personality, a truly vile individual full of his own self-importance. But does he get his just awards? The ending did feel a little rushed with some loose ends left hanging but, as it’s very much a story of smoke and mirrors, was John Banville ever intent on providing that type of finish? What was reality? What was just fantasy?
Venetian Vespers is an extremely atmospheric tale. Make of it what you will but be prepared to feel discomfort yet, also, a sense of awe at Banville’s ability to extract such feelings from his readers. Portraying a much darker side of Venice, John Banville introduces malevolence around every fetid corner and uncertainty in every mysterious face. With a strong gothic element, Venetian Vespers is a claustrophobic novel that both entertains and repels in equal measure.
‘It was Venice that cut me down to size’
‘There is no doubt of it, I deserved all I got. But as I have said, I must tell my poor sad story as it happened, not as I now remember it, with sorrow and bitter rue.’
Evelyn Dolman is a struggling writer who happens upon the opportunity of a lifetime when he receives a commission to write the biography of a very powerful and wealthy man, Thomas Willard (Twill) Rensselaer, who also happens to be his father-in-law. But very soon after his marriage to Laura Rensselaer, Thomas Willard Rensselaer is killed in a tragic riding accident. In the aftermath the family solicitor passes on the shocking news that Twill has disinherited his daughter, leaving Evelyn and Laura in a bit of a financial predicament. They had postponed their honeymoon, following Twill’s unfortunate demise, but when the aforementioned writing commission is subsequently withdrawn, Evelyn is left in disarray. Fortuitously, the Venetian trip had been agreed pre the death of Twill so, despite reservations on Evelyn’s part, they journey off-season in the grim darkness of winter to a damp and shadowy Venice.
On arrival in Venice neither Laura or Evelyn are in good spirits but, nevertheless, they check into their accommodation, a crumbling Palazzo off St. Mark’s Square. When Laura isn’t to be found the following morning, Evelyn’s world is torn asunder. Evelyn’s shocking behaviour the previous evening is reason enough for Laura to disappear but, in complete denial and in an act of horrendous self-righteousness, Evelyn begins to justify his actions (Please note that the incident in question will be a trigger for some readers so do please proceed with care)
Over the next twenty four hours, Evelyn befriends two individuals who captivate and confuse him in equal measure yet he ends up inviting them to stay at the Palazzo while they sort themselves out. With Laura seemingly after disappearing, Evelyn gets sucked into quite a perverse and extraordinary situation, which he describes as ‘a moving stage…a steadily darkening drama’.
Evelyn Dolman’s behaviour is abhorrent. He is an overbearing, pretentious character with no appealing trait to his personality, a truly vile individual full of his own self-importance. But does he get his just awards? The ending did feel a little rushed with some loose ends left hanging but, as it’s very much a story of smoke and mirrors, was John Banville ever intent on providing that type of finish? What was reality? What was just fantasy?
Venetian Vespers is an extremely atmospheric tale. Make of it what you will but be prepared to feel discomfort yet, also, a sense of awe at Banville’s ability to extract such feelings from his readers. Portraying a much darker side of Venice, John Banville introduces malevolence around every fetid corner and uncertainty in every mysterious face. With a strong gothic element, Venetian Vespers is a claustrophobic novel that both entertains and repels in equal measure.
‘It was Venice that cut me down to size’
December 22, 2025
So far my experience of John Banville’s writing has been limited to Prague Nights, one of his mystery novels published under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. I’ve been meaning to try more of his books and when I saw this one, I was immediately drawn to it by the title and the beautiful cover (I love a Venetian setting).
Venetian Vespers is set at the turn of the 20th century and begins with writer Evelyn Dolman and his wife Laura on their way to Venice for a belated honeymoon – the reason for the delay is that Laura’s father died just after their marriage. Evelyn had been expecting Laura to inherit her father’s fortune, but due to some sort of conflict that Evelyn doesn’t fully understand, his father-in-law left everything to his other daughter instead. This is disappointing for Evelyn – but then, their whole marriage has been a disappointment so far and isn’t showing any signs of improving.
On their first night in Venice, Evelyn meets Frederick FitzHerbert, a man who claims to have been at school with him, although Evelyn can’t remember him at all. He doesn’t like to admit this, though, so falls into conversation with Freddie and is introduced to his beautiful sister, Francesca. Returning drunk to the palazzo near St Mark’s Square where he and Laura are staying, Evelyn behaves so badly towards his wife that when he wakes up in the morning she has disappeared. Despite feeling ashamed of himself, he makes no real attempt to find Laura, too distracted by thoughts of Francesca. But are Francesca and her brother really who they say they are and what do they want with Evelyn?
It’s obvious to the reader from early on that the FitzHerberts are con artists of some sort, but what we don’t know is what they’re hoping to achieve or why they’ve picked Evelyn as their target. We also don’t know what has happened to Laura, so there’s plenty of tension and mystery. However, the whole novel is narrated by Evelyn from a point in the future, which means there’s lots of foreshadowing and comments like “looking back, I can see” and “If I’d known then what I know now” and I found this a bit annoying. Also, all the foreshadowing and hinting meant I spent most of the book waiting for something dramatic to happen and when it eventually did, very late in the book, I felt slightly let down.
The book is beautifully written, though! Banville uses language appropriate to the period, with every word and phrase carefully chosen so that you could almost imagine it was written in an earlier time. It’s also extremely atmospheric. I love Venice but have only been there in the summer, in hot, sunny weather; Evelyn is there in the winter and the Venice he describes is a gloomy, sinister, forbidding place – “that place of glancing lights, distorting reflections, looming shadows”. It’s the perfect backdrop for the unpleasant, unlikeable characters (even our narrator is an awful person).
Although I couldn’t quite manage to love this book, I enjoyed it more than the other one I read by Banville and was captivated by the haunting portrayal of Venice and the tense, unsettling atmosphere. An ideal read for cold, dark evenings.
Venetian Vespers is set at the turn of the 20th century and begins with writer Evelyn Dolman and his wife Laura on their way to Venice for a belated honeymoon – the reason for the delay is that Laura’s father died just after their marriage. Evelyn had been expecting Laura to inherit her father’s fortune, but due to some sort of conflict that Evelyn doesn’t fully understand, his father-in-law left everything to his other daughter instead. This is disappointing for Evelyn – but then, their whole marriage has been a disappointment so far and isn’t showing any signs of improving.
On their first night in Venice, Evelyn meets Frederick FitzHerbert, a man who claims to have been at school with him, although Evelyn can’t remember him at all. He doesn’t like to admit this, though, so falls into conversation with Freddie and is introduced to his beautiful sister, Francesca. Returning drunk to the palazzo near St Mark’s Square where he and Laura are staying, Evelyn behaves so badly towards his wife that when he wakes up in the morning she has disappeared. Despite feeling ashamed of himself, he makes no real attempt to find Laura, too distracted by thoughts of Francesca. But are Francesca and her brother really who they say they are and what do they want with Evelyn?
It’s obvious to the reader from early on that the FitzHerberts are con artists of some sort, but what we don’t know is what they’re hoping to achieve or why they’ve picked Evelyn as their target. We also don’t know what has happened to Laura, so there’s plenty of tension and mystery. However, the whole novel is narrated by Evelyn from a point in the future, which means there’s lots of foreshadowing and comments like “looking back, I can see” and “If I’d known then what I know now” and I found this a bit annoying. Also, all the foreshadowing and hinting meant I spent most of the book waiting for something dramatic to happen and when it eventually did, very late in the book, I felt slightly let down.
The book is beautifully written, though! Banville uses language appropriate to the period, with every word and phrase carefully chosen so that you could almost imagine it was written in an earlier time. It’s also extremely atmospheric. I love Venice but have only been there in the summer, in hot, sunny weather; Evelyn is there in the winter and the Venice he describes is a gloomy, sinister, forbidding place – “that place of glancing lights, distorting reflections, looming shadows”. It’s the perfect backdrop for the unpleasant, unlikeable characters (even our narrator is an awful person).
Although I couldn’t quite manage to love this book, I enjoyed it more than the other one I read by Banville and was captivated by the haunting portrayal of Venice and the tense, unsettling atmosphere. An ideal read for cold, dark evenings.
October 27, 2025
I'm surprised by the number of reviews stating no interest in the story or that one is a fan of Banville's work, but finds this one the exception. Others didn't care for the main character or felt not a lot happened in the book, yet I found that to be part of this novel's charm.
I didn't know anything about the book or the author when I began reading this. Maybe that added to the enjoyment of this story. I particularly liked the overall feeling and the unexpected twists. There's something not quite right occurring all throughout the belated honeymoon and aftermath. The protagonist can't sort out what has happened, and he also can't draw attention to himself trying to sort it out. Like a number of people who may have perpetrated a misstep but aren't quite sure how culpable they are in the consequences, the protagonist has a feeling that many things aren't quite right, but is constantly working to explain away how these things prove the opposite. He gets better at suppressing the gut-feelings he's having that are warning him about the reality of his situation, and the more time that passes, his delusions of no impropriety taking place are reinforced. But, is he really convinced? Could things play out so simply and without him paying any sort of consequences for ignoring the alarm bells that have been going off for him all along?
The story was well-planned, developed, and explained--but definitely not at breakneck speed. If you're looking for something fast-paced or characters that charm you and make you feel for them, this isn't the book for you. I do enjoy a story that has obvious twists coming, but here they're not foreseeable, nor farfetched, nor do they come so far out of left field as to render the suspense moot and make the lead up to the reveal irrelevant or secondary to the surprise ending. I felt I was reading an intricately woven story where everything did add up in the end, though I never would have guessed how that was going to come about until it was revealed.
I enjoyed the writing and character development. Even if I wouldn't want to befriend a novel's protagonist, I appreciate a novel that shows the transparencies, complexities, and humanity of a character--no matter how flawed or unlikeable. Other reviewers mentioned reading this because of the location of the story. I feel like this could've taken place almost anywhere, though due to the time period and social class and opulence, Venice is a perfect setting. I certainly didn't anticipate all the twists, though I felt like they all added up and were believable in these circumstances. I'm bummed for those that got so far in and then deemed this novel as DNF--though I'm not suggesting people slog through books that are of absolutely no enjoyment to them. It's just that they got so close to the big reveal--and I do think the twists made this such a clever book. It may not be an edge-of-your-seat page-turner with a wild cliffhanger, but it still piqued and held my interest and I found the subtlety and pace of the story to be a perfect fit.
I didn't know anything about the book or the author when I began reading this. Maybe that added to the enjoyment of this story. I particularly liked the overall feeling and the unexpected twists. There's something not quite right occurring all throughout the belated honeymoon and aftermath. The protagonist can't sort out what has happened, and he also can't draw attention to himself trying to sort it out. Like a number of people who may have perpetrated a misstep but aren't quite sure how culpable they are in the consequences, the protagonist has a feeling that many things aren't quite right, but is constantly working to explain away how these things prove the opposite. He gets better at suppressing the gut-feelings he's having that are warning him about the reality of his situation, and the more time that passes, his delusions of no impropriety taking place are reinforced. But, is he really convinced? Could things play out so simply and without him paying any sort of consequences for ignoring the alarm bells that have been going off for him all along?
The story was well-planned, developed, and explained--but definitely not at breakneck speed. If you're looking for something fast-paced or characters that charm you and make you feel for them, this isn't the book for you. I do enjoy a story that has obvious twists coming, but here they're not foreseeable, nor farfetched, nor do they come so far out of left field as to render the suspense moot and make the lead up to the reveal irrelevant or secondary to the surprise ending. I felt I was reading an intricately woven story where everything did add up in the end, though I never would have guessed how that was going to come about until it was revealed.
I enjoyed the writing and character development. Even if I wouldn't want to befriend a novel's protagonist, I appreciate a novel that shows the transparencies, complexities, and humanity of a character--no matter how flawed or unlikeable. Other reviewers mentioned reading this because of the location of the story. I feel like this could've taken place almost anywhere, though due to the time period and social class and opulence, Venice is a perfect setting. I certainly didn't anticipate all the twists, though I felt like they all added up and were believable in these circumstances. I'm bummed for those that got so far in and then deemed this novel as DNF--though I'm not suggesting people slog through books that are of absolutely no enjoyment to them. It's just that they got so close to the big reveal--and I do think the twists made this such a clever book. It may not be an edge-of-your-seat page-turner with a wild cliffhanger, but it still piqued and held my interest and I found the subtlety and pace of the story to be a perfect fit.
September 28, 2025
John Banville always offers glorious writing, even when writing about thoroughly unlikeable characters. Albeit it set in a beautiful city with historical information aplenty, it is not destined to be a favourite, also I found the plot a tad predictable. The atmospheric writing kept me turning pages (neat trick on my Kindle!) and I thoroughly enjoyed the well-deserved outcome for the mean-spirited, self-important and sybaritic husband.
October 28, 2025
I rated this book as a 1 despite the fact that it shows many of the signs of good writing. The characters are fully, and I mean fully, developed. There is a strong plot line. I was not put off by the Jamesian writing style as others have been. It is very evocative of TURN OF THE SCREW but even darker.
Despite these accolades, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to spend a couple of hundred pages with such a despicable set of characters. Not a single one has a single redeeming grace. All are adept liars and scammers. You are supposed to find the narcissistic male character if not funny, ironic. I found him purient. Much less attention is awarded to the women who are equally vile. The wife, heiress to be, is no victim. She is probably a double murderer.
The title is misleading. The word "vespers" suggests something far more elevated than this Machiavellan tale.
The book ends (spoiler) with the heiress and her long-time schemer lover married and living off her dad's riches. It is difficult to imagine that they will satisfied for long with a life where they are not scheming for someone's destruction.
Despite these accolades, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to spend a couple of hundred pages with such a despicable set of characters. Not a single one has a single redeeming grace. All are adept liars and scammers. You are supposed to find the narcissistic male character if not funny, ironic. I found him purient. Much less attention is awarded to the women who are equally vile. The wife, heiress to be, is no victim. She is probably a double murderer.
The title is misleading. The word "vespers" suggests something far more elevated than this Machiavellan tale.
The book ends (spoiler) with the heiress and her long-time schemer lover married and living off her dad's riches. It is difficult to imagine that they will satisfied for long with a life where they are not scheming for someone's destruction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2025
This is the first time that I have read this author and I was drawn to this because of Venice - a city I’ve visited three times and adore. The cover was also very atmospheric. We are in 1899 and Evelyn Dolman, a writer/journalist, is recounting past events. These are - he marries Laura, the daughter of a wealthy American and he believes that his future is secured when his wife inherits the family fortune. However a rift between father and daughter seems to have changed his father-in-laws plans. Going on a belated honeymoon to Venice, Evelyn soon finds that strange events cause him to be wary of everything and everyone. I did not enjoy the character of Evelyn at all. Is it just me, I wonder, but I found him insufferable. Was it because of the way that he described the city I love as damp and decaying. It is, but there is still beauty there which he didn’t bother to find. I also found his lusts intolerable. Add to this the fact that he seems very easily manipulated. In his recount he stated that he knew that he was being set up but carried on, he says he has the benefit of hindsight but he doesn’t appear to have learned anything about himself at all. As for the mystery at the heart of the novel, when it does become clear that Evelyn is being ‘played’ I have so sympathy for him. The other characters in the novel I found equally unlikeable. Others have loved this so I know I’m in the minority here, I so wanted to enjoy it, but the overwhelming dislike that I had for the main character sadly meant that I didn’t.
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