THE FLOATING BOOK

Numerous characters and plot lines spin through this historical romance, but the real star is 15th-century Venice, a "transparent floating book, where the pages are concepts visible in colour. Not a thing of the mind, but a piece of beauty dedicated to the senses alone." Situating historical figures like German printer Wendelin von Speyer alongside over-the-top creations like Sosia Simeon, a Serbian woman with an insatiable sexual appetite, Lovric spins an intrigue-laden tale of destructive lusts and mixed-up loves in the early days of the printing press. She has an eye for sensual detail, conveying the sights and smells of the city's markets and palazzi. But her characters—such as the demagogue priest, Fra Filippo, and his helper, Ianno, who, once cured of a fleshy appendage on his head "resembling a tiny human brain," finds himself "obsessed with doing good where once he committed only badness"—are caricatures. Byzantine plot twists and steamy sex scenes may count for more than subtlety of prose in a standard page-turner, but Lovric's literary aspirations often force the action to take a back seat to heavy-handed references to the Latin poet Catullus and extravagant descriptive passages. In Lovric's Venice, a clumsy lover is "humiliated to the darkest core of his soul," while sexual infatuation is "an exhilarating nightmare like a ride on a seabird's back through the dead hours of the night." Readers looking for a good yarn will get lost in the window dressing, while those seeking a novel of elegance and depth may not feel rewarded enough for their perseverance. Agent, Victoria Hobbs. (Jan.)

Forecast: Lovric has had considerable success as the editor of dozens of popular anthologies (including the bestselling Love Letters), but her foray into fiction seems unlikely to yield the same dividends.