Blog Tour and Book Review: All The Lost Places #Venice #HistoricalFiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When all of Venice is unmasked, one man’s identity remains a mystery . . .

1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.

1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.

 
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR AMANDA DYKES

https://austenprose.com/2022/11/16/an-exclusive-interview-with-amanda-dykes-author-of-all-the-lost-places/

ADVANCE PRAISE

• “This lyrical dual-narrative historical from Dykes (Set the Stars Alight) dives into the histories of Venice, Italy, and Venice Beach, California.”— Publisher’s Weekly
• “Introspective, surprising, and achingly beautiful.”— Booklist starred review
• “Dykes’s pen is fused with magic and poetry. Every word’s a gentle wave building into the splendor that is All the Lost Places, where struggles for identity and a place to belong find hope between the pages of a timeless story.”— J’Nell Ciesielski, bestselling author of The Socialite
• “Luscious writing, authentic characters, and an ending that satisfies to the core of the spirit, this novel is another winner from Amanda Dykes.”— Heidi Chiavaroli, Carol Award-winning author of Freedom’s Ring and Hope Beyond the Waves

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Dykes’s debut novel, Whose Waves These Are, is the winner of the prestigious 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten Romance debut, and the winner of an INSPY Award. She’s also the author of Yours Is the Night and Set the Stars Alight, a 2021 Christy Award finalist.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

BOOK REVIEW

Amanda Dykes has a unique ability to transport readers to any time or place, and she does it again in this dual-timeline novel. Venice of the early 1800s and early 1900s comes alive through her writing. The characters are compelling and the reader is drawn into the book right away. What a mesmerizing tale of a son who is trying to redeem himself and another man, found floating in the river as a baby, trying to find out who he really is.

In 1807, Sebastien is trying to find the family that abandoned or lost him, thus revealing his true story. In 1904, Daniel is an artist who, after an injury, lost the ability to visualize, or see anything in his mind’s eye, a condition we now know as aphantasia. He feels he has also lost the respect of his mother and is filled with regret. The powerful inner feelings of both men are so well conveyed by the author. The gorgeous writing draws the reader in, and the descriptions of the setting are just breathtaking. This is a wonderfully crafted look at the beauty and culture of Venice, told through two complex characters. It is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Amanda Dykes continues to create characters and settings that we won’t soon forget.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Austenprose book tours. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.