Review: Mask of Dreams by Leigh Grant

Mask of Dreams by Leigh Grant is a huge, sprawling achievement, a marvelous historical novel that brings together elements of the romance and adventure genres with grittier realism and acutely observed period minutiae. With its addictive plotting and believable characters backed up by clearly thorough research of the era, the novel is sure to linger long in the memory as an expertly woven, richly detailed, and thoroughly gripping work of historical fiction.

The title alludes to its period setting – Venice in its golden age around the year 1500, a city that is also an empire, and a world of wealth, costumes, art, and science. However, there is another city behind the mask, a city of secrets and intrigue hidden by a veneer of social mores and manners, with danger at home and beyond Venice itself, as the city’s newly won territory in the Balkans is challenged not only from within by restless Slavic peoples, but also by the rise in the east of Ottoman power.

Into this world, we are introduced to our two protagonists, each leading apparently very different lives but whose destinies are on a collision course. Caterina Vinciguerra is the young daughter of a wealthy merchant and citizen of Venice, promised in marriage from a very early age to a haughty and brutish man named Ariosto. Caterina chafes against this – still a child, her heart is in learning and scholarship, what is called humanism at the time, her closest confidantes being her tutors and her nanny.

In complete contrast, Rade is a Slavic outlaw, an itinerant and brigand, who is fighting for his life through the bandit lands of the western Balkans, and trying to reach the promised land: Venezia. Disaster for Ludovico will bring their paths together, where a picaresque of adventures on land and sea will unfold across Venetian territory and beyond, bringing together politics, social turmoil, and a secret that will change their lives.

Grant has chosen an original setting for his exploration of Venice’s Golden Age, focusing the story on its Eastern territories and conflicts, a riveting period that is less discussed in the West. While some of the names of characters come off as a little whimsical (Nonna and Ragazzo, for instance), the breadth and accuracy of period detail is dazzling – from the names of cities in different languages, the various idiomatic expressions, and objects of the era, to the exceptionally believable evocation of the social and political rules of the time.

Above all, each character is brought to life in a way that feels both riveting and authentic – outsized and immensely human, which is rare for a historical novel that can sometimes feel like a work of fantasy, existing in a world too unlike our own. Grant’s characterization, matched with the brutal veracity of the time, brings the period to vivid life, for a period setting that is immersive, immediate, and wholly believable.

A clear labor of love for the author, Mask of Dreams is a beautifully written book, scholarly yet page-turning, which should delight lovers of both historical fiction and adventure narratives.