The Times Top 10
Bestseller
Venice. 1704. In this city of glittering splendour, desperation and destitution are never far away. At the Ospedale della Pietà, abandoned orphan girls are posted every day through a tiny gap in the wall.
Anna Maria is just one of the three hundred girls growing up within the Pietà's walls - but she already knows she is different. Obsessive and gifted, she is on a mission to become Venice's greatest violinist and composer, and in her remarkable world of colour and sound, it seems like nothing will stop her.
But the odds are stacked against an orphan girl - so when the maestro selects her as his star pupil, Anna Maria knows she must do everything in her power to please this difficult, brilliant man. But as Anna Maria's star rises, threatening to eclipse that of her mentor, the dream she has so single-mindedly pursued is thrown into peril.
From the jewelled palaces of Venice to its mud-licked canals, this is a story of one woman's irrepressible ambition and rise to the top, of loss and triumph, and of who we choose to remember and those who lie forgotten.
A stunning debut novel of music, intoxication, and betrayal inspired by the true story of Anna Maria della Pietà, a Venetian orphan and violin prodigy who studied under Antonio Vivaldi and ultimately became his star musician — and his biggest rival.
“An immersive, impassioned tale full of colour and sound”
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‘An immersive, impassioned tale full of colour and sound that depicts Anna Maria as a driven prodigy whose talent will empower and imperil her.’
The Guardian
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‘An enthralling novel, which viscerally transports you to eighteenth-century Venice and revives the lost story of a phenomenal woman; a lovingly rendered account of passion, struggle and the power of music.’
Harper’s Bazaar
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‘An epic novel set in 18th Century Venice and based on the real life of Anna Maria della Pietà who, taught by Vivaldi, went on to become the leading pop star of her day. She's since been written out of history. Until now.’
BBC
2024 book highlights: The Instrumentalist
‘Debut novelist Harriet Constable travels to 18th-century Venice in The Instrumentalist (Bloomsbury, August), which is based on the true story of Anna Maria della Pietà, a student of Antonio Vivaldi.’
The New Statesman
“Spectacularly
imagined – historical fiction
as it should be written.”