Laura Morelli's compelling novel, The Gondola Maker, published in 2014, commences in the year 1581 and takes place in the popular vacation destination of Venice, Italy. The narrator, "Luca Vianello," relates the incredible story of his life, family, and adventures during the waning years of the Renaissance period when Italian art, culture, and society were all the rage. His long-established and reputable family has been constructing and selling the sleek, swift, maneuverable wooden vessels that circumnavigate the Republic's canals, rapidly propelling the local population throughout the city, for generations upon generations. He proves his capabilities as a tried, trued, and tested master craftsman and "river-yacht" tradesman. His family touts their own particular brand and trademark of dealership vessels, as it were. It is not surprising that their boats are highly regarded as being among the finest manufactures anywhere in the then-known world.
One day, Luca decides to branch-out into the water-taxi business, and so begins the real adventure of a lifetime. He meets a certain "Guiliana Zanchi," and she zings him good, with one of Cupid's arrows. Their brief, fleeting, promiscuous, unexpected encounters dramatically change his perception of life, and his role in it, as he takes off in the "Daytona 500" fast lane. The adrenaline-rush coursing through his blood-steam is unlike anything he's ever experienced before. He feels as pumped and psyched as a man in flight. He becomes zestfully enamored and suitably enticed. Teased and pleased, true romance finally catches up to him. He acquires a sense of entitlement that should last him forever and a day.
Giovanni Boccaccio undoubtedly would have modified and re-told the love story differently, had he heard it first, after a fashion, in his own ribald and risque way, before including it in his "Decameron." William Shakespeare, arguably, would likewise have been impressed with the more modern, down-to-earth version of "Romeo and Juliet," quite possibly even preferring it to his own. This could be a slight exaggeration, however. Bill was no fool, caught up in a handcrafted, high-octane, whirlwind romance.
R. Royce was driving along a hilly, winding county road, having opted for the paved scenic route to their final destination. Seated beside him in the unrivaled Porsche was his good friend and long-time business associate, Cornelius Korn.
"Have you told Alexis Sue about the farm acreage you acquired out here, yet?" asked Royce. Alexis Sue is Korn's significant other and their business associate.
"She thinks we just hunt pheasants out in the County somewhere," said Korn. They continued on their way to their destination in muted silence. Korn provided timely directions, indicating the appropriate turn-offs and proper detours that they must make along the way, throughout the four-states region. He wanted to show Royce the property that he had recently purchased. He had already begun landscaping it.
"You wanted to surprise somebody?" asked Royce. "It looks like an ordinary mobile home to me, a rounded, silver-bullet "Air-stream" like you'd find in any recreational trailer park in America, only you have it isolated among a grove of shade trees on a hillside, near a clear-running creek, on about five acres of secluded land."
"Actually, it's more like thirty-nine acres of wilderness peace, joy, and serenity out here," said Korn. "Would you like the grand tour?"
"Certainly," said Royce. "By all means, let's hike around the woods and have a closer look. We can smell the roses and commune with nature in all her splendor."
"I can guarantee that you're going to be pleasantly surprised," said Korn. They walked along a meandering trail through the woods. Royce played follow the leader.
Before very long they had located an abandoned set of railroad tracks. The tracks had been converted into a paved bicycle path. They followed this path for a while. Then, they went on an off-road vehicle trail for a few hundred yards further. It led them to a large, obtrusive boulder. They went around its circumference to see what it might conceal from view. Sure enough, they found a smooth bed-rock road leading up to the entrance of a cavern wide enough and tall enough for a full-sized automobile to drive into. They also discovered a spring-fed pool of sparkling pure, clean spring-water with a water-fall cascading into the creek far below.
They began exploring the cavern interior. Some of the limestone rock formation that was inside the cave must have washed out over thousands of years ago, leaving the solid rock interior hollowed out. Gigantic stalactites and stalagmites as big around as tremendous tree trunks merged like reinforced concrete columns in the center and throughout the cave, supporting the roof and tying into the metamorphic and igneous conglomeration that comprised the hard-packed rock floor. The enormously large room nature had created appeared to be architecturally and structurally sound. The temperature inside the cavern would be a dry, comfortable 60 degrees year-round, according to Korn. There was enough open space inside to park two dozen cars and couple of motor-homes. With its Southern exposure, the cavern appeared to be naturally illuminated. Royce noticed that Korn's beloved Mustang--his pride and joy, in pristine condition, had already been parked inside, where it was safely housed, secured, and hidden away, out of inclement weather.
"This is exactly where I want to be when the balloon goes up and the big one goes off," exclaimed Royce, somewhat excited about the rarefied discovery.
"Jesse James must have said the same thing to his brother, Frank, when he revealed the location of the Gang's new hide-out in 1862," said Korn.
"The old homestead definitely shows potential," said Royce. "The only possible down-side I can see for the foreseeable future involves the proposed reservoir that the city plans to build some thirty miles downstream. The project will flood thousands of acres of fertile farm land in the valley south of here. I guess, your property value all depends on how high the water rises after they complete the hydro-electric dam. Excessive rainfall and global-warming may have an additional impact."
"There's no great concern here. We're at much higher elevation," said Korn, brimming with contentment and beaming with confidence. "I don't believe it will have any effect on us, whatsoever--unless we want to drive over to the lake and go fishing for bass and crappie."
"Then, I am impressed," said Royce. "Can we store our cars in here out of the weather?"
"Whatever floats your boat," said Korn.
"What a fantastic cavern!" said Alexis Sue, a few days later, checking out the vista and panorama views. "Don't you just love a lush, tropical paradise? It's so romantic."
"This is what I'd call a real 'Man-Cave,'" said Meghan Thomas, having seen the hallowed halls for the first time. She stood by R. Royce 100 per cent. They were all in.
"Now that we have a high-and-dry parking garage to store them in, we can broker another consignment of Ferrari's," announced the always enterprising Cornelius Korn. "The last batch went too fast."
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Reviews with images
Poor bookbinder
Enjoyed the story but agree with others that it needed more polish/editing. Annoyed that almost half the pages came out as I turned the pages (see photo). Another upside for kindle!
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Written Path
Wonderfully evocative of 16th century Venice
Reviewed in India on November 30, 2017
