BOOK: Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers

Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers, 340 pages

Venice in February

Miss Garnet, a British history teacher, is thrown for a loop when her roommate/companion dies. Julia realizes she has never lived, and decides to go to Venice to live for six months. Miss Garnet never noticed the beautiful around her; she was an athiest and Communist. Venice overwhelms her. She meets up with some young British twins who are restoring a cathedral near her apartment.

I liked the timelessness of the book - it was hard to tell when the story was placed, even though it was written in 2002. It had the feel of early 1900s or even 1960s - a spinster going abroad, but it was modern, although before cell phones. This could rightly be called Miss Garnet's coming of age story, even though she was in her 50s. She attempts a romance, makes some friends, and becomes more aware of people around her, and their motives. Intertwined, was a biblical story that related the Angel Tobias. I liked the biblical story, but couldn't completely see how it connected to Julia's story. There were more layers to the story that I'm sure I missed.

The idea of leaving your life and heading to Venice is romantic because of Venice, and if you've ever imagined living there, Miss Garnet's Angel provides that, as well as a multi-layered spititual awakening.