When I began this book, I had no idea of its length, but it kept me intrigued for days. The very idea of these three related stories, all in a locale with Venice as its name, but not the same locale was clever. The characters I became very fond of in all three stories and desperately read on to find out what might happen to them in the end. The hint of magic in the pages of Welle's book was delicious as was the glimpse of Venice in the 1500's. I will look forward to this writer's next novel.