The Instrumentalist set in Venice – Harriet Constable

Submitted: 22nd October 2024

The Instrumentalist – Harriet Constable

If you are a vivid reader, then boy are you in for a treat with this one. I personally have Synesthesia where I see shapes and colours in words. This novel was written like a piece of classics music – it formed patterns in my mind as I read and the explosion of colours was quite amazing. It was like reading an orchestra playing the music of the moment and I went from adagio to a wonderful crescendo that washed over me. The cadences of the prose were like music as I read…

This is a remarkable novel………

Map of locations in The Instrumentalist

instrumentalist

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Venice

Author guide: Harriet Constable

Genre: historical fiction

Food and drink to accompany: you will eating up the words and the images they create!

POSTCARD-1

#Bookreview

@thebooktrailer

A novel to transport you to Venice

Map of locations in The Instrumentalist

Anna Maria della Pietà is the main character we follow and she is based on a real life person – the girl who would grow up to become a brilliant violinist and composer. Her teacher? Vivaldi.

Now, the real genius of this book, in addition to the colourful musical palette it produces, is the fact that Vivalidi is scarcely mentioned in this story. The girl, Anna Maria, is the only voice that matters here. She has a talent for music that surpasses the expectations of anyone and everyone. It’s quite amazing to see her grow and become fascinated with playing the violin.

I think any reader will appreciate the way the author has written such luscious descriptions but to those of us who share traits of seeing words as colours or shapes, this is literally music to our ears:

‘The girl had notes before she had words, and those notes have always had colours’. Anna Maria experiences musical notes and melodies in the form of colours. Even the sounds of everyday life in early 18th century Venice – the songs of gondoliers, the cries of street traders, the chiming of church bells – are a kaleidoscopic symphony. ‘Tones and hues float up, high above the city, hanging like notes on a stave, matching the sounds below.’

The Instrumentalist Harriet Constable

Map of locations in The Instrumentalist

I’ve never seen/heard of this sensation being described in this way so it’s remarkable in that sense. I got to understand this amazing woman in every way and I found her story to be all encompassing. From her start in life at the convent for abandoned babies to becoming a star, her story was just amazing to read about. I did wonder at times however if her thoughts and expressions were more ‘modern’ than they should have been but that did not spoil the flow of the novel for me at all.

Harriet Constable has taken Anna Maria and the other girls in that convent and told their story. They were all taught by Antonio Vivaldi and influenced him in many ways – even writing some of the music themselves. But, they have never been recognised for their work and so this novel helps put some of that right at least.

Colourful, musical and a reading experience I will never forget!

(So much so I bought the signed first edition with fancy spredges despite already having the HB)