The Floating Book

The Washington Post

In this age of "creative" writing courses, lowest-common-denominator fiction and the staggeringly overrated "art" of the screenplay, it is refreshing and heartening to read a book by a writer who is genuinely interested in words. — Edward Docx

Publishers Weekly

Numerous characters and plot lines spin through this historical romance, but the real star is 15th-century Venice, a "transparent floating book, where the pages are concepts visible in colour. Not a thing of the mind, but a piece of beauty dedicated to the senses alone." Situating historical figures like German printer Wendelin von Speyer alongside over-the-top creations like Sosia Simeon, a Serbian woman with an insatiable sexual appetite, Lovric spins an intrigue-laden tale of destructive lusts and mixed-up loves in the early days of the printing press. She has an eye for sensual detail, conveying the sights and smells of the city's markets and palazzi. But her characters-such as the demagogue priest, Fra Filippo, and his helper, Ianno, who, once cured of a fleshy appendage on his head "resembling a tiny human brain," finds himself "obsessed with doing good where once he committed only badness"-are caricatures. Byzantine plot twists and steamy sex scenes may count for more than subtlety of prose in a standard page-turner, but Lovric's literary aspirations often force the action to take a back seat to heavy-handed references to the Latin poet Catullus and extravagant descriptive passages. In Lovric's Venice, a clumsy lover is "humiliated to the darkest core of his soul," while sexual infatuation is "an exhilarating nightmare like a ride on a seabird's back through the dead hours of the night." Readers looking for a good yarn will get lost in the window dressing, while those seeking a novel of elegance and depth may not feel rewarded enough for their perseverance. Agent, Victoria Hobbs. (Jan.) Forecast: Lovric has had considerable success as the editor of dozens of popular anthologies (including the bestselling Love Letters), but her foray into fiction seems unlikely to yield the same dividends. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The colorful, sometimes violent history of printing serves as backdrop for this historical novel of 15th-century Venice, the first by British author Lovric (editor, Women's Wicked Wit; Love Letters) to be published in the United States. When the von Speyer brothers travel from Germany with their printing tools, they hope to capitalize on the bustling commerce of Venice. Marrying Venetians, they become intertwined with a Jewish doctor and his promiscuous wife; an editor, whose sister, a nun, practices witchcraft; and a debauched Venetian scribe. As the popularity of printed books grows, their business is threatened by increasing competition, mistrust of printed books by the church, and their printing of such controversial works as the erotic poetry of the ancient Roman Catullus. Many of the characters here are real historical figures, and Lovric's research provides surprising insight into the challenges of a time when books were just beginning to influence the world (the author is a part-time resident of Venice). Fans of Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter, as well as bibliophiles with an interest in history, will welcome this. Recommended for all public and academic libraries.-Kim Uden Rutter, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A mix of fact and fiction juxtaposes the brief life of Roman poet Catullus with the sensation caused by the first printed edition of his highly charged poetry in 15th-centuryVenice. Catullus arrived in Rome in 63 b.c. and promptly and permanently fell under the spell of a heartless, despicable noblewoman named Clodia. His sensual poetry addressed to her resurfaced in Venice during the late1400s, when most of Lovric's bulky debut novel takes place. Wendolin von Speyer-who, like many of the characters here, actually existed but whose portrayal here should not be taken literally-has recently arrived from Germany with his printing press in tow. He falls deeply in love and marries the earthy, enchanting Lussièta. Meanwhile, Sosia, a Dalmatian Jewess whose rape as a child has damaged her soul, begins a journal describing all the Venetian men she sleeps with, most for money. Several powerful noblemen are thoroughly besotted with her, as is von Speyer's young editor Bruno. The scribe Felice Feliciano is the one man Sosia herself loves, but he loves only books and, secretly, Bruno. Von Speyer's publication of Catullus's poems creates a public outcry and private crises. Sosia's licentiousness gradually takes over her intellect. In the meantime, misunderstanding and distrust worm their way into the von Speyer marriage. Eventually, thanks to a mix of magic and/or happenstance, Sosia is destroyed, like Clodia before her. (Eaten up with venereal disease, she is accused of witchcraft.) Bruno finds a love worthy of his virtue, Felice sacrifices for his love, and the von Speyers regain their marital equilibrium. Lovric juggles these love stories and half a dozen others, including her characters' passionfor the written or printed word, but her own true love is Venice itself. The novel is rich in sensual descriptions of the city and its citizenry. Maddeningly over the top and self-important, but as seductive as Venice. Agent: Victoria Hobbs/A.M. Heath, London