After her husband leaves her for an older woman, Nora Manin, pregnant with his child, decides to move to Venice to try her hand at glassblowing. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her 17th-century ancestor Corradino Manin, recognized as the best glass artisan the island of Murano has ever known.

Leonora, as she calls herself in Venice, obtains an apprentice position in the very furnace in which Corradino worked and receives a warm enough welcome, until she rebuffs the advances of Roberto del Piero and mentions Corradino to him. Roberto's ancestor Giacomo, foreman of the furnace in Corradino's time, took him under his wing and thought of him as a son. Although a top glassmaker, Roberto says he has evidence that Corradino turned traitor and sold glassmaking secrets to the French, an act punishable by death. Nora believed he had died of mercury poisoning on Murano.

The Council of Ten, the ruling body of Venice, or the Republic of Venice as it was known in the 17th century, took its secrets seriously. Venice wore a veneer of beauty and artifice that deftly hid much of the treachery and duplicity underneath. The Council kept its glassblowers as virtual prisoners on Murano. Corradino's expertise gained him more freedom than others to visit clients, but he never left the island without followers. The repercussions might not bode well for her job or Corradino's reputation, but Leonora vows to determine the truth about Corradino. Included is a romantic subplot as Leonora falls for a Venetian policeman whose ex-girlfriend, a beautiful and ambitious journalist has just returned to Venice and plans to rekindle her past relationship.

Present and past intertwine in this debut novel from Marina Fiorato, a mélange of history, politics, mystery and romance. She balances the two simultaneous storylines well, alternating chapters to keep the reader's interest. Born in Venice, it's clear Fiorato knows the city and its history and politics, although I would have liked to know even more about the workings of The Council of The Ten. Fiorato handles the mystery well, not giving too much away too soon, and offers many tidbits to the reader along the way. Fiorato has a talent for language, offering word pictures that evoke the beauty of what they describe. I felt the ending wrapped up a little too neatly, but this doesn't distract from the overall excellence of the novel. I look forward to reading other books by Fiorato, including THE MADONNA OF THE ALMONDS.