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The Girl of His Dreams

Author: Donna Leon
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

9 reviews
Sales Rank: 1087

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.5 x 1

ISBN: 0434018023
EAN: 9780434018024
ASIN: 0434018023

Publication Date: April 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book dispatched from stock in the UK

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-9 of 9

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Another intriguing death in Venice May 4, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Having come late to Donna Leon, it has taken a while to catch up with now extensive back catalogue. I started in the middle and each time a new instalment arises I read an earlier one at about the same time. While there is a constancy in the atmosphere and standard of all the Brunetti books, what is evident is just what a compelling individual Brunetti has now become, and how closely integrated are his home and work life (and the way Leon uses family and colleagues in the separate spheres to expose Brunetti's ruminations is excellent). The surrounding characters too have deeper dimensions, and I like the way Vianello has become a larger part.

The primary story of the outsiders and the separateness of the gypsy camp and lifestyle (and the sensitivity with which the interaction is handled) is first rate, and I'm inclined to agree with other reviewers that this is the best yet.

4 out of 5 stars

Time for a change? April 23, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

This new book bears all the marks of Donna Leon's previous Commissario Brunetti books--superb atmosphere and location in Venice, the charm of the friends and family characters (not withstanding the unpleasantness of the rotters!)and an intriguing plot and sub-plot.
As with all non-believers (I'm making an assumption here) the author falls down when it comes to portraying religious characters. Mutti's sermon, for example, is weak, and unbelievable--certainly it wouldn't make much appeal (she suggests that his followers are in thrall to him.) On the other hand, the sections dealing with the gypsies ring true (even though many readers will probably feel that she overdraws their character, but not knowing Italian gypsies I cannot really make a judgment).
Is Donna Leon somewhat in danger of writing to a formula?--apart from the differences in crime, most of the material could be changed from one book to another without significantly changing anything. In the end, one wonders, has she run out of steam? As a writer she has immense charm, and I shall continue to read her. But she might do well to consider striking out along entirely new lines--even leaving Venice behind? I know that's thinking the unthinkable, but maybe the time has come.

5 out of 5 stars

The difference between good and evil April 14, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Donna Leon's novels always leave the reader wondering about the fine line between good and evil. 'The Girl of his Dreams' is no exception. Two stories intertwine. A priest who officiated at the funeral of Brunetti's mother asks him for help, and a young girl's body is pulled from a canal. Leon's writing is understated to such an extent that you are completely unconscious of it as you read. Nothing strikes a false note. Venice comes to life through the five senses. People are by turns good and evil. Everything swirls in ever changing patterns. Brunetti works against the vested interests which influence the most trivial happening. Italy's ever present problem with poor migrants comes to the fore in this story amd questions are raised about the relative values of human lives and different moral values. There is never any gratuitous violence in Donna Leon's books and they are all the more powerful for it. Her characters are never two dimensional. If you like your crime novels with added depth then this book is for you.

5 out of 5 stars

Donna Leon at her best April 9, 2008
25 out of 26 found this review helpful

If you want a simple whodunnit, then read no further. However, if you want to be engaged and challenged, and reminded of the deviousness of the human mind, the by-ways of evil, and the moral ambiguities of life, then Donna Leon has few peers, and this book shows why.
This book starts apparently inconsequentially at a funeral, and then with a priest consulting Comissario Brunetti, Leon's chief character. It serves as a way into Brunetti's thoughts and inner world; for while those are present in each of her Venetian novels, they are centre-stage here throughout.
The main event, the finding of a young child's body in a canal, doesn't come until well into the book, but since what Leon wants to do is show how the find affects Brunetti, as well as those around him, the atmosphere and the interiority of the narrative need space to develop. Without giving anything away, one can say that the girl haunts Brunetti: she is the girl of his dreams in a way that phrase normally never signifies.
The figure of Ispettore Vianello, Brunetti's assistant, is drawn more fully in this novel than in any of the preceding, and he becomes both a mirror to and a foil for Brunetti's broodings.
The usual lighter moments of the series: food, drink, and the wiles of Patta's secretary are all present, but are less prominent. Given the darkness of the book, they have to be. The city's role as a character, always a part of these books, is different, too: somehow, for Brunetti, this crime subtly alters his take on Venice.
By the end of the book, there both is and isn't resolution. The facts around the girl's death are clearer, and the priest's query gets an answer. And we end at another funeral that balances the beginning. But the moral ambiguities are, well, just more ambiguous. It's something that happens in several books in this series to some extent, but here it's not a plot device: it is the plot.
The book is hardly fun, but if you like Donna Leon's work, then this is a must. For me, at least, it's her best yet.