Miss Garnet's Angel

By Salley Vickers

"The greatest wisdoms are not those which are written down but those which are passed between human beings who understand each other.... "

The story starts in Ealing, London but is soon transferred to Venice, Italy where it comes to life. It is a very optimistic and heart-warming novel about Miss Julia Garnet, a retired history teacher in her sixties – and still a virgin – who decides to spend six months in Venice after her friend and flat-mate of 30 years, Harriet Josephs, passes away. It is a decision that sparks an exhilarating adventure of the soul. She now embarks on a journey that leads her through the three F’s of her life: fear, faith and friendship. Julia begins to blossom.

“When I came to Venice I’d never really seen beauty before…I’d never really let it inside me...”

The strange beauty of Venice, with its spectacular architecture and abundance of art, history and ancient mysticism, storms Julia's staunch English reserve and challenges her socialist ideology. For the first time in her life she falls in love. Carlo is a charming art dealer with twinkling eyes and a white moustache.

Intertwined with Julia’s story is also a retelling of the story of Tobias from the Apocrypha, from the Old Testament, who, when growing old and blind, decides to undertake a journey of his own. A story that could perhaps have been left out all the same, as I did not feel it added much value to the storyline, even if it gives many parallels to Julia’s fate. It surely did not captivate me in the same way as it did Julia. Together with the beauty of Venice, the story of Tobias gives her a new “excitement” late in life.

While in Venice Julia overcomes her fear of the unknown, rediscovers her faith and develops deep friendships.

Some of the friendships she makes are with a beautiful Italian boy called Nicco and an enigmatic pair of twins engaged in restoring the 14th century Chapel-of-the-Plague. However, it is not until she discovers a series of paintings in the Church of the Angel Raphael that Julia is able to transform and to reassess her past. A past that is still very much haunted by her tyrannical, abusive father.

An excellent cast of characters and an interesting story full of death, love, myth, faith, truth and hate.