So Shall You Reap

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Donna Leon is the undisputed crime fiction queen . . . Leon’s ability to capture the social scene and internal politics [of Venice] is first-rate.”— Baltimore Sun As always an insightful foray into Venetian life, the past, the various laws of inheritance, including titles, and of course food. Brunetti’s Cookbook, recipes by Roberta Pianaro, culinary stories by Donna Leon (Published previously in the United Kingdom as A Taste of Venice: At Table with Brunetti, William Heinemann, London, April 2010; Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, hardcover, May 2010) What is unsettling is that Guido spoke to the man only the day before his death, while trying to do his father-in-law a favour. Those who know Inesh Kavinda well pronounce him a good, kind man, so Guido is puzzled to find “the books he’d seen on the shelves: they were morally at odds with the man described to him” on topics like the Tamil Tigers and the Italian terrorists of the 1980s.

Over the line came the sound of a vaporetto changing into reverse to slow for a station stop. A voice – not Vianello’s – came over the line: ‘Ca’ Rezzonico.’ What kind of person is Professore Renato Molin? What does he seem to value or appreciate? How does his “adult” persona square with his “student” one? A real-estate query leads to more troubled waters for Venice’s Commissario Guido Brunetti . . . The commissario’s company and sensibility keep a reader in thrall throughout this and every entry in Ms. Leon’s indispensable series.”— Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, with frequent visits to her grandfather’s farm and its beloved animals, and summers spent selling homegrown tomatoes by the roadside, Leon got her first taste of the classical music and opera that would enrich her life. She also developed a yen for adventure. In 1976, she made the spontaneous decision to teach English in Iran, before finding herself swept up in the early days of the 1979 Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she finally landed in Venice. Leon vividly animates her decades-long love affair with Italy, from her first magical dinner when serving as a chaperone to a friend, to the hunt for the perfect cappuccino, to the warfare tactics of grandmothers doing their grocery shopping at the Rialto Market. Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.” —Ursula K. LeGuin, The New York TimesBrunetti paused a moment and searched his memory for any protest threatened for that weekend. Not the train drivers, not the remaining No-Vax, not the workers at Marghera – who seemed in a perpetual state of protest – and not medical professionals, who had protested two weeks before. As a young woman, Donna Leon taught English Language abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures and this gave her the desire to always travel and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated to and based her beloved long-standing series within. Donna Leon depicts the characters, food, culture, and people of Venice with a knowing eye for ‘just the right’ detail.” —Jennifer McCord, Bookreporter.com Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.” — The Times (London)

In another chapter she describes the clever way her brother saved a lot of money when the apartment building he managed switched from oil burners to gas heat. It’s not a typical memoir, more like a series of vignettes. Those who go in expecting a straightforward story of her life will be disappointed. Leon’s times teaching in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and on an American army base in Italy lend themselves to some interesting points about the various countries and the differences in American societal classes. Scenes in the Brunetti apartment with Paola (his wife) and the children, are some favorite moments.

Donna Leon is the bestselling author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti novels, one of the world’s most beloved and enduring crime series, set in the wondrous city of Venice, Italy. Wandering Through Life” contains some standout chapters, including one on how bees and beekeeping played an integral role in the plot of the Brunetti novel “Earthly Remains” (2017), and another in which Ms. Leon, now 80, ruminates on “the other end of life.” But although Ms. Leon’s slim memoir proves warm, witty and engaging, some readers and most fans will be left wanting more. She offers an overview of her life rather than an in-depth trawl through it. WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks of Leon's life while maintaining enough of a distance so that readers still will have plenty to learn about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel, which cannot come fast enough.

This is the most disappointing of the 32 books, for me, but many others sincerely enjoyed it, so it may just have been the mood I was in while reading, and perhaps I'm too critical. The cases, while always intriguing, are almost secondary to the wonderful characterizations and musings and observations of life, especially Venetian life, by Brunetti. So nice to visit again with all the familiar actors, flamboyant Signora Elletra, strong and wise Paola, philosophical Guido, comical Patta, capable Griffoni, loyal Foa. For many years, Donna Leon has been writing thoughtful, perceptive mysteries” —Sam Coale, Providence Journal I do not typically read memoirs. However, I LOVE Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti police procedurals/mysteries set in Venice. I have read all thirty two of them. Naturally, I just had to read her memoir.As a favour to his wealthy father-in-law, the Count Falier, Commissario Guido Brunetti agrees to investigate the seemingly innocent wish of the Count's best friend, the elderly and childless Gonzalo, to adopt a younger man as his son. Under Italian inheritance laws, this man would become the sole heir to Gonzalo's substantial fortune, something which Gonzalo's friends, including the Count, find appalling. For his part, Brunetti wonders why they're so intent on meddling in the old man's business.

Terrific at providing, through its weary but engaging protagonist, a strong sense of the moral quandaries inherent in Italian society and culture.”— San Francisco Chronicle She shares amusing anecdotes about selling tomatoes to fund college, and her mother’s disastrous Christmas turkey. She confesses her love of Tosca, of Handel; and she has a moan about music pollution. So Shall You Reap is the thirty-second book in the Commissario Brunetti series by award-winning American-born author, Donna Leon. Another visit to Guido Brunetti’s Venice, and it’s a good one! While there are plenty of day-to-day tasks and issues keeping Commissario Guido Brunetti busy, it’s the vicious stabbing murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan servant that draws his attention from them. Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation.”— Ursula K. LeGuin, New York Times

Donna Leon Book Releases 2023/2024

I’ve been a big fan of the Guido Brunetti series and have made my way through the first 24 of them. Thanks to Netgalley, I’m jumping ahead to So Shall You Reap, # 32 in the series. It’s also the first of the series I’ve read, rather than listened to. It works just as well in either format. Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vázquez Montalbán through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.” — Le Figaro (Paris) She explains the difference on a train between authors and traditional passengers. The passengers see the landscape and the tunnel ahead of them. The author imagines what disaster can happen in the tunnel. Leon was born in 1942 just south of New York, in the state of New Jersey. Her parents were Catholic and had strong leanings towards the Democratic Party. Her paternal grandfather was born in Latin America and her mother’s father in Germany.