In this enthralling new novel, Barbara Quick re-creates eighteenth-century Venice at the height of its splendor and decadence. A story of longing and intrigue, half-told truths and toxic lies, Vivaldi's Virgins unfolds through the eyes of Anna Maria dal Violin, one of the elite musicians cloistered in the foundling home where Antonio Vivaldi-known as the Red Priest of Venice-is maestro and composer. Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale...

"Anna Maria has only known life inside the Pietà, an orphanage for children born of prostitutes. But the girls of the Pietà are lucky in a sense: most babies born of their station were drowned in the city's canals. And despite the strict rules, the girls are given singing and music lessons from an early age. The most promising musicians have the chance to escape the fate of the rest: forced marriage to anyone who will have them. Anna Maria is determined...

A delightful board book with each season beautifully illustrated and described with lyrical text. Press each embedded sound button to listen to specially arranged music from Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons. The pages also have half die-cuts revealing the artwork on the layer below.