What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wishing Bones
A brand new exquisitely imagined historical fantasy novel set on the canals of Venice from award-winning author, Michelle Lovric for ages 9+
Venice in 1740, a serene and lovely city.
But look beneath the surface . . . step off the edge of what you think you know . . .
Young orphan Lily has grown up in a glum, prison-like convent. Her only freedom is walking the beautiful streets of Venice, dreaming of escape...of a family...of being loved.
Then someone tries to steal the bones of Venice's beloved Saint Lucy. Without her protection, the city's vibrant colours fade to grey. And soon, the Venetians start to turn on one another.
If Lily can't find a way to save Saint Lucy, Venice - the only home she's ever known - will descend into darkness...forever.
A magical adventure set amongst mysterious canals and filled with monstrous eels, moody mermaids and menacing curses.
Venice in 1740, a serene and lovely city.
But look beneath the surface . . . step off the edge of what you think you know . . .
Young orphan Lily has grown up in a glum, prison-like convent. Her only freedom is walking the beautiful streets of Venice, dreaming of escape...of a family...of being loved.
Then someone tries to steal the bones of Venice's beloved Saint Lucy. Without her protection, the city's vibrant colours fade to grey. And soon, the Venetians start to turn on one another.
If Lily can't find a way to save Saint Lucy, Venice - the only home she's ever known - will descend into darkness...forever.
A magical adventure set amongst mysterious canals and filled with monstrous eels, moody mermaids and menacing curses.
400 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2019
4 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Lovric
112 books169 followersMichelle Lovric is a novelist, writer and anthologist.
Her third novel, The Remedy, was long-listed for the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction. The Remedy is a literary murder-mystery set against the background of the quack medicine industry in the eighteenth century.
Her first novel, Carnevale, is the story of the painter Cecilia Cornaro, described by The Times as the possessor of ‘the most covetable life’ in fiction in 2001.
In Lovric’s second novel, The Floating Book, a chorus of characters relates the perilous beginning of the print industry in Venice. The book explores the translation of raw emotion into saleable merchandise from the points of view of poets, editors, publishers – and their lovers. The Floating Book, a London Arts award winner, was also selected as a WH Smith ‘Read of the Week’.
Her first novel for young adult readers, The Undrowned Child, is published by Orion. The sequel is due in summer 2010.
Her fourth adult novel, The Book of Human Skin, is published by Bloomsbury in Spring 2010.
Lovric reviews for publications including The Times and writes travel articles about Venice. She has featured in several BBC radio documentaries about Venice.
She combines her fiction work with editing, designing and producing literary anthologies including her own translations of Latin and Italian poetry. Her book Love Letters was a New York Times best-seller.
Lovric divides her time between London and Venice. She holds a workshop in her home in London with published writers of poetry and prose, fiction and memoir.
Her third novel, The Remedy, was long-listed for the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction. The Remedy is a literary murder-mystery set against the background of the quack medicine industry in the eighteenth century.
Her first novel, Carnevale, is the story of the painter Cecilia Cornaro, described by The Times as the possessor of ‘the most covetable life’ in fiction in 2001.
In Lovric’s second novel, The Floating Book, a chorus of characters relates the perilous beginning of the print industry in Venice. The book explores the translation of raw emotion into saleable merchandise from the points of view of poets, editors, publishers – and their lovers. The Floating Book, a London Arts award winner, was also selected as a WH Smith ‘Read of the Week’.
Her first novel for young adult readers, The Undrowned Child, is published by Orion. The sequel is due in summer 2010.
Her fourth adult novel, The Book of Human Skin, is published by Bloomsbury in Spring 2010.
Lovric reviews for publications including The Times and writes travel articles about Venice. She has featured in several BBC radio documentaries about Venice.
She combines her fiction work with editing, designing and producing literary anthologies including her own translations of Latin and Italian poetry. Her book Love Letters was a New York Times best-seller.
Lovric divides her time between London and Venice. She holds a workshop in her home in London with published writers of poetry and prose, fiction and memoir.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 9, 2022
The Wishing Bones was a sweet middle grade story with strong themes of friendship and loss that I ultimately enjoyed. Although it isn't anything groundbreaking, it was cute and fun to read.
The story revolves around Lily, an orphaned girl living in Venice in the 18th century. She is nicknamed 'Sorrowful Lily' because she has only experienced sorrow throughout her life. During the story, she is sent to work at the Hotel of What You Want, led by the Signorina, a woman with mysterious motives. There she meets Darling Dearworthy, a headstrong girl from Ireland, and they must team up to save Venice from people who want to harm it.
I think the best things about the book were the writing and the setting. The historical setting of Venice was really interesting and atmospheric, and I think the writing was accurate to the time period. It had a historical feel without being boring. I think this setting and writing style was chosen well for the story, making it very intriguing.
On the other hand, however, I did find the characters to be a little flat and the magic system to be a bit... non-existent. Things like mermaids and curses existed without any explanation and people just seemed to treat magic as if it was a normal thing- but then why wasn't this explained or touched on, even for just a tiny bit? I dunno, but I found that irritating.
Overall, however, The Wishing Bones was a cute and entertaining read. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, as it wasn't anything particularly special, but it was a nice way to pass the time. Cute!
~ 3 stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A cute little story. I liked it! 🙂 RTC!
The story revolves around Lily, an orphaned girl living in Venice in the 18th century. She is nicknamed 'Sorrowful Lily' because she has only experienced sorrow throughout her life. During the story, she is sent to work at the Hotel of What You Want, led by the Signorina, a woman with mysterious motives. There she meets Darling Dearworthy, a headstrong girl from Ireland, and they must team up to save Venice from people who want to harm it.
I think the best things about the book were the writing and the setting. The historical setting of Venice was really interesting and atmospheric, and I think the writing was accurate to the time period. It had a historical feel without being boring. I think this setting and writing style was chosen well for the story, making it very intriguing.
On the other hand, however, I did find the characters to be a little flat and the magic system to be a bit... non-existent. Things like mermaids and curses existed without any explanation and people just seemed to treat magic as if it was a normal thing- but then why wasn't this explained or touched on, even for just a tiny bit? I dunno, but I found that irritating.
Overall, however, The Wishing Bones was a cute and entertaining read. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, as it wasn't anything particularly special, but it was a nice way to pass the time. Cute!
~ 3 stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A cute little story. I liked it! 🙂 RTC!
July 11, 2019
I was sent a arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
3.5
This was way darker than I was expecting especially since the description says its for 9+ year olds. There is murder, desecration of corpses and more murder. I loved that about it, I was pleasantly surprised on how dark and creepy the atmosphere was in the beginning, unfortunately it got less dark near the end. Lily was a really good main character, I liked how resourceful she was and how she wasn't broken by what happened to her throughout her life. There is a scene near the beginning when she was a child that is very heart wrenching. Unfortunately she became more a background character for awhile in the middle and came back a bit near the end but she wasn't quite as interesting as she was in the first half. Darling was awesome, she was so stubborn and out spoken but again I slowly lost interest in her as the book drew nearer the end. It was fun that it had a young Casanova even though I didn't really see the point of having him in there, he was a bit of nice comic relief though. I really liked Ivo's character, he was the most complex of them (besides Lily), he's done dark things to survive a dark world but isn't beyond redemption.
I thought I would like the mermaids more than I did since I love mermaids but I found them a bit too preachy, I like my mermaids drowning people rather than helping children. The Madonna was a nice surprise, I loved her sass.
Overall I enjoyed it but the ending is definitely the weakest part of the book, it all tied up a bit too neatly (though I suppose it is a kid's book so it's not too much of a negative) and there was more planning and build up than action which happened off page. I did really like that the author included historical notes at the end, you don't see that much in children's fiction.
3.5
This was way darker than I was expecting especially since the description says its for 9+ year olds. There is murder, desecration of corpses and more murder. I loved that about it, I was pleasantly surprised on how dark and creepy the atmosphere was in the beginning, unfortunately it got less dark near the end. Lily was a really good main character, I liked how resourceful she was and how she wasn't broken by what happened to her throughout her life. There is a scene near the beginning when she was a child that is very heart wrenching. Unfortunately she became more a background character for awhile in the middle and came back a bit near the end but she wasn't quite as interesting as she was in the first half. Darling was awesome, she was so stubborn and out spoken but again I slowly lost interest in her as the book drew nearer the end. It was fun that it had a young Casanova even though I didn't really see the point of having him in there, he was a bit of nice comic relief though. I really liked Ivo's character, he was the most complex of them (besides Lily), he's done dark things to survive a dark world but isn't beyond redemption.
I thought I would like the mermaids more than I did since I love mermaids but I found them a bit too preachy, I like my mermaids drowning people rather than helping children. The Madonna was a nice surprise, I loved her sass.
Overall I enjoyed it but the ending is definitely the weakest part of the book, it all tied up a bit too neatly (though I suppose it is a kid's book so it's not too much of a negative) and there was more planning and build up than action which happened off page. I did really like that the author included historical notes at the end, you don't see that much in children's fiction.
August 24, 2019
‘The Wishing Bones’ is a dark fantasy set in Venice during 1739. I was drawn by its lovely cover art that depicts a child watching two ethereal mermaids floating above the Venice canals in shades of blue. It is intended for ages 9+ though some scenes and themes might be too intense for younger readers.
‘The Wishing Bones’ opens with the sad tale of a young orphan girl, who dubs herself Sorrowful Lily. She was raised in a prison-like convent on the island of Murano and later is sent to work at a Venetian hotel where wicked acts are occurring.
There she meets Ivo, another orphan, caught up in the evil schemes of the hotel’s owner. She also meets a young Giocomo Casanova and later Darling Dearworthy, another orphan from Ireland, who is seeking to uncover the truth about her uncle’s death at the hotel.
There are wicked sisters, mermaids, vampire eels, and a helpful Madonna. The bones referred to by the title are those of saints. Overshadowing the story is a prophecy that if the body of Saint Lucy leaves Venice that the city would lose its colour. Early on thieves attempt to steal her body and manage to remove her foot.
The children are drawn together on various quests including recovering the saint’s foot.
This was a truly magical reading experience with delightfully eccentric characters, thrills, scary encounters, humour, and moments of tenderness and redemption.
Lovric includes historical notes at the end of the novel titled: What is true and what is made up Venice 1739. I welcomed glimpse into the city’s history and it may inspire readers of all ages to explore further.
I hope to read more of Michelle Lovric’s work, especially as many of them are set in Venice and feature mermaids.
‘The Wishing Bones’ opens with the sad tale of a young orphan girl, who dubs herself Sorrowful Lily. She was raised in a prison-like convent on the island of Murano and later is sent to work at a Venetian hotel where wicked acts are occurring.
There she meets Ivo, another orphan, caught up in the evil schemes of the hotel’s owner. She also meets a young Giocomo Casanova and later Darling Dearworthy, another orphan from Ireland, who is seeking to uncover the truth about her uncle’s death at the hotel.
There are wicked sisters, mermaids, vampire eels, and a helpful Madonna. The bones referred to by the title are those of saints. Overshadowing the story is a prophecy that if the body of Saint Lucy leaves Venice that the city would lose its colour. Early on thieves attempt to steal her body and manage to remove her foot.
The children are drawn together on various quests including recovering the saint’s foot.
This was a truly magical reading experience with delightfully eccentric characters, thrills, scary encounters, humour, and moments of tenderness and redemption.
Lovric includes historical notes at the end of the novel titled: What is true and what is made up Venice 1739. I welcomed glimpse into the city’s history and it may inspire readers of all ages to explore further.
I hope to read more of Michelle Lovric’s work, especially as many of them are set in Venice and feature mermaids.
July 16, 2019
I was sent a copy of this book, from the amazing team at Hachette, in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to love this book, it has all of the elements that I would usually love, but I did find it quite stiff and hard to get into.
That being said, it is dark, twisty and filled with murder and conspiracies that will keep you guessing with every turn.
The characters are well rounded, but hard to form a connection with, I think again, this is due to the language used, I realise it needs to feel quite Victorian, but it really makes it hard to connect with the characters.
Well written and perfectly paced for the feel of the title.
I wanted to love this book, it has all of the elements that I would usually love, but I did find it quite stiff and hard to get into.
That being said, it is dark, twisty and filled with murder and conspiracies that will keep you guessing with every turn.
The characters are well rounded, but hard to form a connection with, I think again, this is due to the language used, I realise it needs to feel quite Victorian, but it really makes it hard to connect with the characters.
Well written and perfectly paced for the feel of the title.
September 11, 2019
This book was a random selection from the library, I liked the idea of a magically story set in Venice. It had me hooked from the start, the characters were well described and full of colour. The storyline was interesting and full of twists and turns. I like how there was depth in the character stories, not what it seems!!!
The details of Venice and of saints were interesting enough that I would like to know more and one day to visit this magical city. I loved the mermaids and magic in the story, so refreshing and well written.
I would totally recommend this book for people who love interesting stories, with magic, hero's and hope. One of the best books I've read in a while.
The details of Venice and of saints were interesting enough that I would like to know more and one day to visit this magical city. I loved the mermaids and magic in the story, so refreshing and well written.
I would totally recommend this book for people who love interesting stories, with magic, hero's and hope. One of the best books I've read in a while.
July 14, 2019
Set in Venice in 1740 this is a tense, scary read with dark deeds and murder around every corner. Not for the fainthearted reader, the descriptions of torture made me shudder. I enjoyed the mermaids, who were very sassy and thought the main characters were strong, although their apparent lack of surprise when magical things happened was a bit unbelievable. I would recommend The Wishing Bones for any 11+ youngster who likes to be a bit scared when reading under the covers!
July 10, 2019
A very good book that kept my 10yo entertained. My daughter wasn't scared but she said that perhaps is not suited to younger readers as it's quite tense. She absolutely loved it and was able to spot the social themed running along with the plot.
September 2, 2019
Darker and stranger than expected.
November 26, 2020
I liked this and it was ok. But I don’t remember anything practically. And I will forget about it really easily But I don’t think this is a bad book just not for me
January 15, 2022
Probably 1/5 star
I did not like the writing, the plot or the characters. The whole thing was annoying.
The best thing about this book is the beautiful cover!
I did not like the writing, the plot or the characters. The whole thing was annoying.
The best thing about this book is the beautiful cover!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews