In these brilliantly realized, linked tales, the real Venice is revealed – not the iconic tourist destination the city has become, but the mysterious society that resides behind its elegant doors and shuttered windows. With a sly and affectionate delicacy, Jane Turner Rylands, an American expatriate who has lived in Venice for thirty years, portrays a dozen Venetians– a construction foreman, a countess, a gondolier, a postman, an architect, a Baronessa, an English lord – as they pursue their respective interests. And in turn, through the perspective of those who live and work in this most alluring of cities, Venetian Stories illuminates canals and palazzos, churches and gondolas, large concerns and small rituals, with an uncommon intimacy. “Engaging…Rylands writes with playful elegance and a crisp layer of understated wit.”– Los Angeles Times “Rylands’ stories are like a teaspoon of grated Parmesan washed down with a swallow of hearty red wine. They’re a discreet indulgence.” – Salon.com “For anyone who has been bewitched by Venice, the melancholy of Venetian Stories rings true, and it is, indeed, part of the enchantment of the stories and the remarkable city that inspired them.” – The Seattle Times “Wry yet poignant tales, the best of which startle with Edith Wharton-like twists…a rare, insider’s perspective of a city whose uncertain future makes its past all the more dear.”– Vogue “These well-informed and well-told Venetian Stories may be as good an insider’s guide as any for the contemporary traveler to the city.” – The Commercial Appeal “In magnificent prose…. The reader slowly sees the never-ending circle of gossip, intrigue, and heart-wrenching stories of diminished wealth, uncertainty, and gloom that occurs in a city that will never again be what it once was, in a society that is, perhaps, as polluted as the Grand Canal itself.” – Booklist “These are charming tales of the personal vision of a city with a highly public character. . . . Smart and vivid.” – Kirkus Reviews “Everything is connected in this clever book of 12 linked stories: islands, people, whole interesting cultures. . . . Rylands’s intricately worked mosaic will please anyone heading to Venice or dreaming of the next visit.” – Publishers Weekly “Reading Venetian Stories is like taking a vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal. . . . The pleasure is in the ride. . . . Serenissimaniacs only need apply.” – Dallas Morning News In these brilliantly realized, linked tales, the real Venice is revealed not the iconic tourist destination the city has become, but the mysterious society that resides behind its elegant doors and shuttered windows. With a sly and affectionate delicacy, Jane Turner Rylands, an American expatriate who has lived in Venice for thirty years, portrays a dozen Venetians a construction foreman, a countess, a gondolier, a postman, an architect, a Baronessa, an English lord as they pursue their respective interests. And in turn, through the perspective of those who live and work in this most alluring of cities, Venetian Stories illuminates canals and palazzos, churches and gondolas, large concerns and small rituals, with an uncommon intimacy. In these brilliantly realized, linked tales, the real Venice is revealed - not the iconic tourist destination the city has become, but the mysterious society that resides behind its elegant doors and shuttered windows. With a sly and affectionate delicacy, Jane Turner Rylands, an American expatriate who has lived in Venice for thirty years, portrays a dozen Venetians- a construction foreman, a countess, a gondolier, a postman, an architect, a Baronessa, an English lord - as they pursue their respective interests. And in turn, through the perspective of those who live and work in this most alluring of cities, Venetian Stories illuminates canals and palazzos, churches and gondolas, large concerns and small rituals, with an uncommon intimacy. Jane Turner Rylands grew up in Ohio and graduated from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. She taught English for the University of Maryland's European division for seventeen years. She has lived in Venice since 1973 and is married to Philip Rylands, the director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Postman When the last quarter of the twentieth century opened throttle for the millennium and the Venice of today, the neighborhood of Salizada San Samuele was still a backwater that figured on no tourist route. Local shops and local people carried on a symbiosis hardly altered since the dawn of commerce, making forays into the wider world of Venice more a matter of style than necessity. The Salizada itself had not yet filled up with shops and drew its homely character from its service as the crossroads of its small community. Like all such neighborhoods that once flourished among the teeming footways of Venice, it was exclusive and had its own dramatis personae. Every weekday morning there were the housewives, today with their