Napoli, Donna Jo. Daughter of Venice.Random House, Dell Laurel Leaf. 271p. map, c2002. 0-440-22928-6. $5.50. JS To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2002: Napoli is a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College Swarthmore College, at Swarthmore, Pa.; coeducational; founded 1864 by the Society of Friends. It maintains a cooperative program with Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and the Univ. of Pennsylvania. and she clearly understands the love of learning in the telling of this story of an exceptional girl, Donata, living in Venice in 1592. Donata is one of the daughters of a noble family, with traditional expectations carefully spelled out. Only one son may marry, and one daughter. The other daughters of the family are expected to go into convents; the sons are chosen for various professions in diplomacy, the law, and other positions of high responsibility. Donata's family is exceptionally rich, so perhaps a second daughter will have an arranged marriage The purpose of an arranged marriage is to form a new family unit by marriage while respecting the chastity of all people involved. As suggested by the term, an arranged marriage is typically arranged by someone other than the persons getting married, curtailing or avoiding the as well. Donata at first thinks she would like this above the life in a convent, but really what she most yearns for is adventure and knowledge of her own city and of the world around her. With the help of her siblings, she disguises herself as a boy and goes into the streets of Venice, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. experience. She makes friends with a young Jew who lives in the Jewish ghetto and works at a printer's. This contact starts to change her view of the world. She persuades her father to allow her to take part in the tutor's lessons with her brothers and she quickly proves to herself and to others that she has an exceptional mind. She learns to read and write--Venetian and Latin. The risks she takes in her disguise endanger en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. herself and her family. One beloved sister will lose the chance to fulfill her own dream unless Donata comes up with a plan to alter both their futures. The reader gets caught up in the life in Venice of this time. Donata's family seem quite real, even if their ways are so different from a family's today. I think YAs will be stunned stun tr.v. stunned, stun·ning, stuns 1. To daze or render senseless, by or as if by a blow. 2. To overwhelm or daze with a loud noise. 3. to realize the limited opportunities for females through most of history--even wealthy girls from the elite classes. This is the strength of Napoli's work: through the strength of her own scholarship and storytelling Storytelling Aesop semi-legendary fabulist of ancient Greece. [Gk. Lit.: Harvey, 10] Münchäusen Baron traveler grossly embellishes his experiences. [Ger. Lit. abilities, Napoli makes Donata and her world a reality. In an Author's Note, Napoli dedicates this story to Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, who became the first woman to earn a degree as Doctor of Philosophy, University of Padua History The university was founded in 1222 when a large group of students and professors left the University of Bologna in search of more academic freedom. The first subjects to be taught were jurisprudence and theology. , in 1678. Claire Rosser, KLIATT |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion