Reviews for Maya's Gold

The average rating for Maya's Gold based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-17 00:00:00 D. Robert Altschul Vivaldi's Virgins is a sparkling historical fiction about Anna Maria dal Violin, one of the orphans trained to perform music for the well-fare of the souls of Venice in the 1700's. One of her instructors is Antonio Vivaldi, who is called "The Red Priest" because of his fiery hair: "I heard and then watched Maestro Vivaldi climb the stairs. He has been my teacher- and one of the very few men who has ever seen my face or spoken to me- for nearly half of my lifetime. I was only a girl of eight when, newly ordained as a priest, Antonio Vivaldi, native son of Venezia, was hired by the governors of the Pieta to be our master of the violin." pg 2 Only girls are allowed to perform music in the Pieta. They are kept separate from the general population and all men, except for the priests who are their instructors, to maintain their purity. "Our lives are arranged so that every piece of every day and night is fit together into an intricate mosaic of music and study and prayer. But it is only a counterfeit of real life. We have no more reality in the world than the trompe l'oeil floor tiles of the church have depth or height." pg 85 There is drama among the children through their interactions and competition with each other and some of their instructors, who are either nuns or priests. "Whoever says that girls are kind has never lived among them." pg 13. Anna longs to know who her family was, but that is a secret kept by the nuns who watch over the children. She spends much of her time trying to figure out how to learn more about who her family may be. Anna also strains against the restrictions placed on her because of her gender in the 1700's. The government only allows the female musicians from the Pieta to perform in public if they remain in the cloister. If they choose to marry, they have to sign a contract to promise not to perform or pay an exorbitant amount of money to the orphanage to pay for their childhood musical education. "It is one of the great injustices of this fair city. And it has made me dream sometimes of other cities- of London and Paris and Vienna, where, I've heard, female instrumentalists have actually been welcomed, from time to time, on the performance stage." pgs 145-146. During these struggles, Anna forms true friendships with other foundlings in the Pieta. "When I think of who my companions will be in Hell, I feel rather glad that I will be going there. It will be filled with those I most well and truly loved." pg 150 I learned a lot about 18th century Venice in this book and Vivaldi. All that I knew about Vivaldi, before reading this book, was that he liked to use a bunch of stringed instruments in his compositions. It makes so much more sense when I discovered who it was he had been composing for. Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, books about composers or stories about troubled childhoods.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-12-19 00:00:00 Stephen Burgess Well-written historical fiction about the girl musicians trained by Antonio Vivaldi at a foundling home in Venice. The story is based on fact and is told in the form of a memoir of Anna Maria, a star violinist, as she remembers her early years at the Ospedale della Pieta. Great characters and an interesting story. Recommended.