Customer Reviews
Intriguing story - By: Jeremy Walton, 08 Oct 2008 
We alll borrowed this & read it a few years ago, & greatly enjoyed it. I remembered it again whilst browsing in the airport bookshop on the way to Venice & bought a copy to take with me. The tale of an elderly lady's Venitian adventures, & the way it is tied up with the biblical story of Tobias & Raphael is compelling, & it was pleasing to be able to use the information at the back of the book (which even includes a map) to track down some of the locations. We'd never been to the Chiesa dell'Angelo Raffaele before, & the discovery of the statue & the paintings of Tobias & Raphael was delightful. As was the quiet square behind the church, which is where Miss Garnet lives in the early part of the story. It's a pleasant, stimulating read & such are the descriptive powers of the author that you can clearly imagine the people & places she writes about even if you're not there.
Art, Venice and mid-life self-discovery - a refreshingly different novel. - By: SB, 25 Sep 2008 
`Death is outside life but it alters it: it leaves a hole in the fabric of things which those who are left behind try to repair.' Thus opens the novel.
Julia Garnet & her long-standing companion & flatmate Harriet decide to retire from work together, on the same day, but when two days later Harriet unexpectedly dies, Miss Garnet decides it is time to take a trip abroad & settles upon six months in Venice. Cautious, dignified & unadventurous by nature, Julia is also a virgin & inexperienced in matters of the heart. Venice is quite a revelation.
Julia discovers feelings of passion for the first time when she comes across the Guardi panels in the Chiesa dell'Angelo Raffaele (Church of Angelo Raffaele), which depict the Apocryphal story of Tobias & the Angel. As she views the paintings ...'Something rusty & hard shifted deep inside Julia Garnet', & she goes on to make further emotional discoveries through her friendships & discoveries in the city of Venice. Julia discovers that for the first time in her life she is able to befriend others, & counts among her friends a couple she accused of queue jumping the taxi rank on her first day, a young boy, Nicco, the unsuitable & overly-attentive Carlo, a couple of young English church restorers, & a charming priest.
The ancient Jewish story of Tobias & the Angel is deftly interwoven amongst Julia's story of re-awakening & discovery. Tobias undertakes his journey of ancient times as Julia travels in the present day, & there are subtle threads between them.
Quite a surprise & not at alll what I was expecting, `Miss Garnet's Angel' is a breath of fresh air to read. The unsophisticated anti-heroine, Julia, is so down-to-earth, so dignified, & for her years so naive, that she is quite plausible, believable & ultimately delightful, as she discovers each new experience & her confidence grows. A thoroughly enjoyable novel of travel & discovery & one I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone.
Please don't be put off !!! A wonderful book. - By: ~ Bookworm ~, 11 Aug 2008 If I had read these reviews before buying this book, I probably wouldn't have bought it!! I read this as it was lent to me by a friend, & it got me back to into reading again after a difficult time in my life..... this was just what I needed, escaping into the world of 'Miss Garnet' & her lengthened stay in Venice. Well researched, beautifully written, some bits were hard going but so well worth persevering. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, & went on to buy alll Sallley Vickers other books! She writes with such depth & insight, I love her books. This has actuallly made me realise I can't always go on peoples reviews!!
Engaging, beautifully written - By: bookbee, 23 May 2008 I was captivated from the beginning. Sallly Vickers' writing brought the initiallly unprepossessing Miss Garnet to life, & delicately illustrated her transformation. Attention to detail brought authenticity to modern Venice & its restoration, which I found a fascinating backdrop that enhanced the story well. The only tricksy part was the story of the twins - on first reding I found that element a little irritating, however, they do provide a perfect device to illustrate Miss Garnet's character. Observation of the minor characters & Miss Garnet's interactions with them are a pleasure.
Evocative, spellbinding and erudite - By: Hestia, 23 May 2008 Do not be put off by the reviewers here who, while entitled to their opinions, clearly fail to grasp the deeply poetic timbre of Sallley Vickers' voice & extraordinary story-telling. This is a wonderfully evocative & spellbinding novel, as well as truly erudite, in the best sense of the word (knowing, rather than merely knowledge-laden). Sallley Vickers writes with passion, characteristic precision, & a deeply sympathetic ear for alll that is hidden & hurting in the human heart. Julia Garnet is an endearing, gracious creation, & her transformation from icy schoolmarm to spiritual seeker is both beautiful & wholly believable. The descriptions of Venice, the story of Tobias & Raphael, & the Catholic iconography are alll redolent with a rich & inky Gnosticism that is beautifully rendered. I wanted to hop onto the next plane to Venice to go & see for myself! The structure of the main narrative, interwoven with a stunning retelling of the Book of Tobit, is unselfconsciously clever as well as compelling: both narratives gripped me from beginning to end, as I found myself reading well into the smalll hours of the night. Julia's gradual discovery of her social & spiritual self, as she makes her own pilgrim's progress through the complexity & conflict of human (and divine) relationships, will offer hope to alll who have ever been lost or alone. All in alll, a joy & an inspiration. I keep returning to this book, taking something new & strangely healing away with me each time. That's what alll great art does.
